Russia appears to be continuing to withdraw military equipment from its Hmeimim air base in Syria, according to satellite images taken on December 13 by the space technology company Maxar.
The images show what appear to be at least two Antonov AN-124s cargo planes on the tarmac with their nose cones open.
Maxar said the two heavy transport aircraft were prepared to load equipment, while a nearby Ka-52 attack helicopter was being dismantled and likely prepared for transport. It added that parts of an S-400 air defense unit were similarly being prepared to depart from the air base.
Russia has an estimated 7,500 troops and multiple military sites in Syria, including at Hmeimim along with the strategic naval facilities at Tartus, which have been used to support the Kremlin's actions in North and sub-Saharan Africa.
Satellite imagery published earlier this week showed that Russian naval ships left the base at Tartus following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad last weekend by rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist militant group.
An-124 heavy transport aircraft prepare to load equipment at Khmeimim air base on December 13.
Imagery showed at least three vessels -- including two guided missile frigates – located about 13 kilometers off the coast.
The Tartus naval base, Russia's only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub, "remains largely unchanged since our December 10 imagery coverage with two frigates continuing to be observed offshore of Tartus," Maxar said on December 13.
The Kremlin has said its focus since Assad's fall was to ensure the security of its military bases in Syria and of its diplomatic missions.
According to open-source intelligence (OSINT), there are more and more signs that Moscow is removing at least some of its equipment.
A drone video of the Hmeimim air base published on December 12 showed people with suitcases preparing to board a plane. A 91N6E radar system was also visible in the video and appeared ready to be transported by military aircraft. The system is used in the operation of S-300 and S-400 missile systems.
The missile systems themselves appeared to be still in their usual place at the air base, but their launchers appeared not to be in combat-readiness mode. In all satellite images taken before the fall of Assad's regime, the S-300 and S-400 were in a state of full combat readiness.
Also on December 13, a correspondent for The Times published a video on X purporting to show Russian equipment arriving at the Hmeimim air base and an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said with Russian ships on the way and increased air traffic at the Hmeimim, the Russian troop withdrawal is gaining momentum.
"Whether it will be partial or complete remains to be seen," Dara Massicot, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the U.S. think tank, said on X.