Russian troops retreating from Syria were stuck on the road for two hours after their armoured vehicle got a flat tyre, it has been reported.
The retreat comes a week after Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad – a strong ally of Russia’s – was deposed by rebels and forced to flee the country.
He flew to Moscow, where he was granted asylum, while people celebrated on the streets of the Syrian capital Damascus the end of his brutal regime.
Documenting the Russian retreat from the country, which has been wrecked by civil war for years, Channel 4’s Lindsey Hilsum reported the flat tyre incident.
She said: “The Russian column has just set off again, they were stuck for nearly two hours at the side of the road with a flat tyre.
“They don’t look like a defeated army, they are retreating in good order. They must have come to some sort of agreement with the new authority in Damascus.
“We have seen more than 150 vehicles. That shows just how huge the Russian contingent here was.
“At the beginning, we saw the armour, then we have seen the troop carriers, armoured personal carriers, we’ve seen medical vehicles. If this was the British army you would say this is brigade strength.
“What we haven’t seen is all the other armour…we haven’t seen any tanks, helicopters and so on.
“The sense is that this is an army that that is no longer welcome and has been forced to leave.”
Putin and his forces played a vital role in keeping Assad in power during the Syrian civil war.
In turn, Assad allowed Russia to operate from two military bases in the country – a naval base in Tartous and the Khemimim Air Base.
According to reports, Russia is in “direct contact” with the new leadership in Syria to negotiate keeping their bases.
Interfax reports that the Kremlin is in talks with Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) rebel group which led to the fall of Assad.
Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov said: “The bases are still there, where they were on Syrian territory. No other decisions have been made for the moment.
“They were there at the Syrians’ request with the aim of fighting terrorists from the Islamic State.
“I am proceeding on the basis of the notion that everyone agrees that the fight against terrorism, and what remains of IS, is not over.”
