Two African states are frustrating Moscow's efforts to establish a stronger military presence in the continent following the fall of Assad.

Russia has begun withdrawing a large amount of military equipment and troops from Syria following the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, according to two US officials and a western official familiar with the intelligence.

The images show new activity at the Hmeimim Air Base over the past few days as Russia's military footprint in Syria remains in limbo.

Israel said it had wiped out the vast majority of the Syrian military's assets, including huge chunks of its air-defense network.

The target was apparently a weapons depot, with the explosion so large it caused seismic equipment to log 3 on the Richter scale

The toppling of Bashar Assad has raised tentative hopes that Syrians might live peacefully and as equals after a half century of authoritarian rule.

Syria’s new transitional government says there is no place for Russian presence in Syria a week after the country’s long-time President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown. The new government also says it is open to engage in contacts with all countries to pave Syria’s new future.

A Russian military cargo ship, tasked with transporting military equipment and weapons from Syria, suffered a breakdown near the Portuguese coast, the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (HUR) reported on Telegram on December 23.

Russia’s intervention on behalf of former Syrian leader Bashar Assad once turned the tide of Syria's civil war

Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted today that his country is still exploring its options for retaining a pair of bases in Syria that have uniquely strategic value following the fall of longtime ally Bashar Al Assad.

Concurrently, marine traffic monitors show a Vladivostok-bound cargo ship, Ursa Major, previously registered as Sparta III and visually matching the picture published by HUR, moving at a very low speed of little over 1 knot in the open sea between Spain and Algeria.