The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that a second group of Russian warplanes left the Hmeymim airbase in Syria's Latakia province on Wednesday morning, This new lot of Su-25 fighter jets was led by a strategic airlifter, the Il-76, the ministry added. The departure followed the first group of aircraft, which arrived back in Russia on Tuesday. Russian war planes started leaving Syria on Tuesday morning, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the Russian government was withdrawing “part of" Russia's military forces. The first group of aircraft left the Hmeymim air base in Syria on Tuesday morning, headed for their respective bases in Russia, the country's defense ministry said. Putin's announcement that Russia's objectives had been “generally accomplished" after five-and-a-half months of bombing raids came on Monday evening, in a televised meeting with his defense and foreign ministers. He ordered the defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, to begin withdrawal, and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was told to work on intensifying diplomatic efforts to bring peace to the region.
