The transfer marks the end of an era when Russia played an arguably oversized role in determining which countries could operate in Syria’s contested airspace.

Israeli military aircraft carried out a series of powerful airstrikes on military targets in the Syrian port city of Tartus, home to an important Russian naval base and ship repair facility, on the night of 15-16 December.

The images show new activity at the Hmeimim Air Base over the past few days as Russia's military footprint in Syria remains in limbo.

Russia has begun withdrawing a large amount of military equipment and troops from Syria following the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, according to two US officials and a western official familiar with the intelligence.

Two African states are frustrating Moscow's efforts to establish a stronger military presence in the continent following the fall of Assad.

Israel launched a series of airstrikes in Syria's coastal Tartus region late Sunday, marking the most intense bombardment in the area since 2012, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Israel said it had wiped out the vast majority of the Syrian military's assets, including huge chunks of its air-defense network.

Russia used the air base in Hmeimim and naval base at Tartus to support Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s 13-year civil war. But now, Assad is gone.

Syria’s new transitional government says there is no place for Russian presence in Syria a week after the country’s long-time President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown. The new government also says it is open to engage in contacts with all countries to pave Syria’s new future.

The toppling of Bashar Assad has raised tentative hopes that Syrians might live peacefully and as equals after a half century of authoritarian rule

The cargo vessel Sparta sent to Syria to bring out Russian military equipment broke down in the open sea and now drifts near the shore of Portugal, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) claimed in a post on Dec.