UPDATE 2-Russia sets up helicopter base in northern Syria after U.S. exit

Russia has set up a helicopter base at an airport in the north-eastern Syrian city of Qamishli, the Russian Defence Ministry's Zvezda TV channel said on Thursday, a move designed to increase Moscow's control over events on the ground there. Two Mi-35 helicopter gunships were shown flying low over desert terrain before landing at the new base, which is protected by mobile Pantsir surface-to-air missile systems.

Only three helicopters, including a Mi-8 military transport helicopter, have so far been deployed at the new facility, Zvezda said, but more will follow. Russia has two permanent military facilities in Syria, an airbase in Latakia Province used for airstrikes against forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad, and a naval facility at Tartus on the Mediterranean

It was unclear if the new base would be permanent, but it suggests Moscow is seeking greater control over events near the Turkish border where Russian and Turkish forces carry out joint patrols. The patrols, agreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, are meant to ensure the border area is free of Kurdish YPG fighters that Ankara views as a threat.

"Right now it’s a small base to facilitate Russian operations in north-eastern Syria, but potentially this could come in handy for Russian operations east of the Euphrates if and when the U.S. withdraws completely from Syria," said Vladimir Frolov, a senior former Russian diplomat. "It gives Russia more bargaining power, more facts on the ground under Russian control. But militarily it's largely symbolic and not designed to take on U.S. airpower."

Zvezda showed Russian military police protecting the base. Armored vehicles and ground crews for the helicopters were also shown, as was a weather station and a small doctor's surgery. "This is the first group of Russian military helicopters here in northern Syria ... It's a historic moment. From this day onwards our aviation group will operate permanently at Qamishli's city airport," said Pavel Remnev, Zvezda's correspondent.

The Zvezda report was broadcast on Thursday but appeared to have been filmed the previous day. The deployment comes less than a month after U.S. forces withdrawing from northern Syria were pelted with potatoes by residents after President Donald Trump abruptly ordered them out.

A Reuters reporter said U.S. forces were spotted on the outskirts of Qamishli city on Tuesday however. One Kurdish source said Russian forces, including helicopters, had long maintained an informal presentation at the airport and suggested Moscow might be exaggerating the importance of its decision to establish a more formal presence.

Russia has started using military helicopters to patrol an area near Syria's border with Turkey in order to protect Russian military police on the ground there, Zvezda said. The Kremlin first launched airstrikes in Syria in September 2015, turning the tide of war in Assad's favor, and says it wants to help him fully regain control of the country. 

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