Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


             Russia Sends Aircraft to Evacuate Citizens from Syria

   by  Reuters

   Russia is sending two planes to Lebanon on Tuesday to evacuate more
   than 100 of its citizens from Syria, the Emergencies Ministry said, in
   the clearest sign yet that Moscow may be preparing for President Bashar
   al-Assad's possible defeat.
   Russia has been Assad's main foreign protector during a 22-month
   uprising against his rule, but a diplomat conceded last month the
   government had lost territory and the rebels fighting Assad could win
   the war.
   Moscow is also carrying out what has been called the largest naval
   exercises since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union in the Mediterranean
   and Black Sea, including off Syria's coast, which analysts say are
   meant to underscore its interest in the region.
   ''
   ``On orders from the leadership of the Russian Federation, the
   Emergencies Ministry is sending two airplanes to Beirut so that all
   Russians who want can leave Syria,'' ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius
   said.
   ``It is planned that more that 100 Russians will leave Syria [on these
   planes],'' she told Interfax news agency.
   It was unclear whether the flights were the beginning of a longer
   evacuation operation.
   Preparing to fly out its citizens is the clearest signal yet that
   Moscow believes Assad's fall may be possible, though it has made no
   indication that it will abandon its position that Assad's exit must not
   be a precondition for a peace deal.

   Moscow leases a naval maintenance and supply facility at the Syrian
   port of Tartous and has had a large presence of employees from
   Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms exporting monopoly.
   A number of citizens from Russian companies that also have a presence
   in Syria still live there too. Russian officials say there are tens of
   thousands of Russian citizens in Syria, many of them also Russian women
   married to Syrian men.
   Naval excercise
   Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, the Kremlin's envoy for
   Middle East affairs, said in December the rebels could win the war
   against Assad and Russia was working on plans to evacuate its citizens,
   if necessary.
   ``The regime and government in Syria is losing control of more and more
   territory,'' state-run Russian news agency RIA quoted him as saying at
   the time. ``Unfortunately, a victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be
   ruled out.''
   Russia's Foreign Ministry said after Bogdanov's remarks that
    it had not changed its policy on Syria and that he was speaking in a
   personal capacity.
   Russia has protected Assad from three consecutive U.N. Security Council
   resolutions aimed at putting pressure on him to end violence from the
   side of the government. More than 60,000 people have been killed in
   Syria since March 2011.
   The Emergency Ministry told Reuters the planes were scheduled to take
   off on Tuesday, but that they would leave as soon as they got orders.
   Sergei Markov, a political analyst and former lawmaker with President
   Vladimir Putin's party, said Russia believed Assad will fall and ``may
   believe it is time to start gradually pulling its citizens out''.
   ``Russia is preparing for the collapse of the central government,''
   said Markov, vice- rector of the Plekhanov Russian University of
   Economics.
   Markov also said that naval ships off the coast of Syria could be used
   in evacuation efforts, echoing the comments of military officials
   reported by Russian agencies.
   At least eight warships from Russia's Northern, Baltic and Black Sea
   fleets were taking part in the manoeuvres.
   Russia delivered Assad delivered nearly $1 billion in arms to Syria in
   2011. CAST, a Moscow-based defence think tank, said Russia had been due
   to send half a billion dollars' worth last year.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-sends-aircraft-to-evacuate-cit
   izens-from-syria-reuters/1588197.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-sends-aircraft-to-evacuate-citizens-from-syria-reuters/1588197.html