The Syrian regime has, according to reports that were verified by TV7, relocated the majority of its operational air force to Russian air bases in the country’s Latakia province, where the majority of Russia’s air force operates from, and is protected by the advanced S-400 surface to air missiles, among other defensive systems. According to TV7 sources, the decision was taken after a trilateral meeting between the top diplomats of Russia, Iran and Syria in Moscow, where they discussed the recent attack by the US navy against a Syrian air-base, which effectively destroyed some 20% of Assad’s operational air force.
The Syrian move also coincides with declared intensions by Iranian and Russian officials to thwart future attempts by Washington to target Assad’s military. A senior Russian official told TV7 that Washington would avoid targeting Russia’s infrastructure in the war-torn-country, a reality that prompted the decision to move Syria’s aerial military equipment into the Russian Khameimim air-base.