Jets scream overhead and soldiers drop down into gun turrets – outside Russia’s military base in Syria
I knew we were near a Russian military base when I could read the names of shops, cafes and pharmacies written in Russian, in surrounding villages.
The Russians have been permanently based here since 2017, propping up the Assad regime and overseeing the war against their many opponents. And the local communities have benefitted financially from their presence.
But for how long this will all last is apparently the focus of talks between Moscow and the new government in Syria because they may not stay.
For now, though, what we do know, is that Russian convoys are withdrawing from bases across Syria and are heading for the Mediterranean Coast.
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Main entrance to Russia’s Hmeimim military base in Syria
On a dusty road near the main Russian entrance to Hmeimim air base near Latakia, I could see a convoy of Russian military vehicles trundling their way past the Russian-named shops.
They were armoured fighting vehicles, troop carriers, armoured police trucks, and supply lorries, some marked with the letter ‘Z’ – synonymous of course with the war in Ukraine.
Russian military vehicles wait to enter Hmeimim air base
But this is a war that is over.
The Russian soldiers onboard the vehicles basically tried to ignore us, or simply drop down into the gun turrets to avoid being filmed.
Above us, a Russian helicopter gunship constantly patrolled the area in bright blue skies, occasionally passing a huge white observation blimp – a constant presence at all major military bases the world over.
Jets would occasionally scream overhead, some landing, some taking off, while transport planes, some of the largest in the world, taxied to and fro on the airstrip.
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It’s a busy base and it appears to be getting busier – the convoys have been arriving for the last few days.
The entrance to the civilian airport, which shares the runway, is now guarded by HTS fighters. They were relaxed, sitting next to pick-up trucks with high-calibre machine guns mounted on the back.
HTS soldiers guarding military airport
I asked one of the soldiers on duty, Zakaria Harir, what his orders were, and if they had any contact with the Russians inside.
“The location of this airport is very important, and that’s why we’ve received orders to be here,” he told me.
“As soldiers, we don’t have any contact with them [the Russians], but there might be coordination between them and the country’s military council.”
Nobody knows what is going to happen to the Russians, but at the very least they are reported to be withdrawing to Russia’s two main bases on the coast, one of which is the Hmeimim base.
A Syrian tank loaded on a lorry by HTS fighters
On the road to Latakia, along the same route some of the Russian convoys take, the sheer number of destroyed or abandoned Syrian army military vehicles – tanks, rocket launchers, trucks, and armoured vehicles, and troop carriers – is quite astounding. It goes on for mile after mile after mile.
Some are burnt out and riddled with bullets, and it’s clear that despite the speed of the rebel advance, there were major exchanges of fire here. As we drove, we could see low-loader lorries backing up to tanks on the main highway.
HTS soldiers were using bulldozers to push the tanks on board, and the tanks appeared to be in working order.
HTS soldiers in the town near the Hmeimim air base
A soldier told me they had simply been abandoned by retreating Syrian army tank crews or had broken down. They were taking the tanks away to workshops to be fixed – some they said just need new batteries, others just needed an oil change.
It feels like they are building a new Syrian army, taking over and using the equipment of the old one.
The regime is gone, and its main supporter’s soldiers are drawing down. Syria is changing at breakneck speed – just a week ago it was a war.
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
Trump criticises Putin – latest updates
Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine
‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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