Russia, Syria restore Syrian air base for joint use

Russia and Syria have restored the al-Jarrah military air base in Syria's north to be jointly used, Russia's Defence Ministry said late on Monday.

"Russian and Syrian military personnel restored the destroyed al-Jarrah airfield," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

"The joint basing of aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Air Force at the al-Jarrah airfield makes it possible to cover the state border."

The small base east of Aleppo was recaptured from Islamic State fighters in 2017.

Russia has been a dominant military force in Syria since launching air strikes and ground operations there in 2015. It further asserted its presence after the United States pulled out its forces in 2019.