Dozens of Russians in Syria return home

Dozens of Russian citizens residing in Syria have returned to their homeland via the Lebanese soil.

On Tuesday, officials from the Russia’s embassy in Lebanon safely escorted three busloads of Russians out of Syria.

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry had dispatched two planes to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to transport the people to Moscow.

Estimates by Russian embassy in Damascus show that about 8,008 Russian citizens are living in Syria. This is while according to unofficial statistics, nearly 25,000 Russians reside in the Arab country.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.

According to a UN report, militants from 29 countries have filtered into Syria to fight against the Damascus government, most of whom are extremist Salafists.

The Syrian government has repeatedly said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.

Russia has recently launched its largest naval exercises in decades in the Mediterranean and Black Seas near the territorial waters of Syria.

The maneuvers which started on January 19 will continue until January 29 and comprise more than 60 drills, including anti-submarine warfare missions, missile and artillery firing practices.

Some of naval maneuvers are expected to be conducted in the eastern part of the Mediterranean near the territorial waters of Syria where foreign-backed terrorists have stepped up their campaign against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia has criticized the Western countries’ support for the terrorists in the Arab country.