Russia has returned the transport plane on which former president Bashar Al Assad's brother fled Syria's capital 18 months ago, sources said, indicating improved relations despite an alliance between Damascus and Washington.
Two Syrian sources said Russia had responded to a request from the Syrian government to return the Ilyushin Il-76. It had carried Maher Al Assad out of Damascus after the Assad regime fell in December 2024.
An official in Damascus said the decision by Russia, for decades a supporter of the Assad regime, to return the plane showed its intention to preserve its interests in Syria, which are primarily military bases. It also showed Moscow's “flexibility” in dealing with the people now in power who expelled Mr Al Assad, although there is little possibility of Russia sending the Assads or any of their senior officials, who have all sought refuge in the Russian capital, anytime soon, he said.
Syria's foreign policy is “realistic”, the official said, pointing out that Moscow has indicated willingness to help rehabilitate Syria's military equipment and power stations. “We cannot ignore such an offer,” he said.
“Bashar Al Assad will end up like [Slobodan] Milosevic, but not now,” he said, referring to the former Serbian leader who was indicted for war crimes and died while facing trial by international tribunal in The Hague.
He added that Syria had levers, mainly its hosting of a Russian airbase and naval base that is a rare warm water outpost for Moscow.
However, Syria has taken note that Russia has not sought to offer any support for attempts by remnants of the former regime to launch attacks against the current government, he said.
Maher Al Assad, who controlled the guard close to the president, was the second most powerful man in Syria and remains in Moscow, along with his brother and other top officials of the former regime.
Most of Syria’s military hardware was Russian, although Israel has destroyed a significant part in aerial campaigns before and after Mr Al Assad fled to Russia.
Syria, which is majority Sunni, quit the Russian and Iranian orbits after the downfall of the regime and quickly developed ties with the US. Washington admitted Syria into its anti-ISIS coalition and had removed most sanctions on the country by the end of last year. A main goal of US support for the new Syrian order is to convince it to strike a peace deal with Israel.
The official said the US realises that “Syria cannot ignore Moscow”, especially since “the Russians are not hampered by legislative and other constraints” on providing support.
Mr Al Shara has made two official visits to Moscow since becoming President. After the first in October, Damascus allowed Russian military personnel to visit the southern frontier where Israeli troops had crossed a buffer zone separating Syria from the occupied Golan Heights and seized Syrian territory.
Israel launched an intensified aerial campaign to wipe out the most modern Syrian military hardware in the two months after the Assad regime fell. However, some helicopters, training jets, and tanks, all Russian-made, survived, another Syrian source said.
A third Syrian source said the Ilyushin Il-76 was one of three to be returned to the new Syrian government, with the other two coming from Libya. However, the one handed over by Moscow was a special aircraft that had been upgraded to carry high-ranking personnel.
The Syrian army, which is still being constituted, currently relies mainly on light armoured vehicles, mainly from Turkey, for mobility.
“It needs Russia if it wants to operate the more formidable hardware it has,” the source said.
