BEIRUT – As Moscow ramps up its military presence in Syria, one pro-rebel news outlet has claimed that Russia is now in control of Damascus International Airport.
“A number of workers in Damascus International Airport have said that the Russians in the past few days have fully taken over the management of the airport,” All4Syria news said Friday morning.
“It is Russian officers who are directing air operations and issuing instructions,” All4Syria cited what it said was an “exclusive source” as saying.
According to the source, the involvement of Russian officers comes “within the framework of preparations for them to [begin] air bridge operations if needed to transfer forces that will defend the capital according to the directions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
The anti-Damascus outlet also cited “military sources” as saying that the regime now intends to create a defensive cordon in the villages around the airport, in order to limit the ability of rebels to target the facility.
Russia in recent weeks has been conducting a major military buildup in Syria amid a flurry of reports that Moscow is preparing to set up an airbase in the Latakia province to conduct airstrikes on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
AFP on Wednesday reported that Russia’s military activities have centered on the Bassel al-Assad International Airport south of the coastal city of Latakia.
The next day, Israel’s defense minister told reporters that Russian troops and technical advisors have been arriving in the country “for operating planes and combat helicopters.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry earlier in the week called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to express his concern over the reports, while NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said a Russian buildup “will not contribute to solving the conflict.”
Moscow has downplayed the reports, with Lavrov saying Thursday that Russia’s arms shipments were merely the fulfillment of contracts with the Syrian government while its military trainers had been in the country for “many years.”
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