Syrian military analyst Colonel Ali Nasif believes that President Vladimir Putin's order to begin withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria is aimed at the withdrawal of some units of Russian troops stationed in the eastern region and their return to the base of Khmeimim. Also, in his opinion, this step is aimed at carrying out procedures for replacing part of the armed forces and trying to eliminate malfunctions in some military aircraft.

Russia resorts to "deception and lies" In an interview with Orient, Nasif said that Russia is deceiving and lying about the withdrawal of its troops, as they return to the points of permanent deployment in Syria, and nothing is said about the withdrawal of the air force and naval forces.

As for Putin's meeting with Bashar Assad in Khmeimim, Nasif believes that if Assad was a legitimate ruler, then Putin would not call him to the Khmeimim base, since this is the Syrian territory, which once again confirms that the country became a province of Russia.

"The Russian military campaign in Syria, launched in late September 2015, was accompanied by the destruction of infrastructure, the killing of civilians and forced displacement," said Nasif. According to him, there are agreements between Russia and the Islamic state, on the one hand, and with the regime on the other, as evidenced by the fact that Russia and the Syrian regime recently opened a loophole for IG militants in the suburbs of Hama with air support.

Source: InoSMI.