Sergei Novikov/TASS
Russian forces have returned to the northern Syrian town of Tell Rifaat and its surroundings, which are controlled by Kurdish forces, after a widely-reported withdrawal.
On April 13, the withdrawal of Russian Military Police units was reported by the Hawar News Agency. According to the agency, the units withdrew from Tell Rifaat as well as from the nearby areas of Sherawa and Ksht’ar.
Later, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Syrian Arab Army and Iranian-backed forces had deployed reinforcements in the area.
The reinforcements, which included battle tanks and armored personnel carriers, took positions near the government-held Shiite towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa.
After Russians withdraw from few positions in Tal Rifat area,SAA sent there soldiers and equipment pic.twitter.com/8VWL5iaTNO
— ZOKA (@200_zoka) April 14, 2021
The reports of a Russian withdrawal led to speculations of a near Turkish-led attack on Tell Rifaat and its surroundings. The Turkish military and its proxies are present right to the north of the Kurdish-held area, in occupied Afrin.
These speculations came to an end on April 14. The North Press Agency and several other news outlets confirmed that Russian forces had returned to their posts in Tell Rifaat and its surroundings.
The withdrawal may have been a maneuver meant to pressure the People’s Protection Units and other Kurdish forces in Tell Rifaat to allow the deployment of additional units from the SAA and Iranian-backed forces.
Not so fast Turks! Russians are back!
You are a liar and a hasbara troll.
Turkey=Russia
Putin and the Russians BLOCKED the prosecution of the Turks in the International Criminal Court for the genocide they committed in Afrin, Syria: https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/2020/06/08/Turkey-is-committing-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-in-Syria
And what did Russia to Turkey in Idlib? Look that up as well, Britbong
The Russians have now done this here in Tall rif At, they’ve done it in Ain Issa, and they’ve also done it in Tall Tamr, so they have to a bit of a theme going on don’t they, one minute they’re in and the next minute they’re out, and then a bit later they’re back in again, Phew. But one thing always happens whenever the Russian’s pull out of a threatened area, the SAA always send in reinforcements to take their place, and on this occasion the Iranians have sent in reinforcements too. But the areas the reinforcements have been sent to aren’t areas that the Turks would attack anyway, there are no Kurds present here near the Shia towns and Shrine, so there’s really no reason for Erdogan to launch anti YPG operations in that particular area, just reasons to attack the locations the Russian evacuated and returned to.
“Tel Rifaat: Local media: Russian forces returned to Tel-Rifaat town, Kashtar, Dair Jamal, Mahtana Faisal and Sherawa”.
“Vehicles belonging to the Russian Military Police return to their base in Tal Ajar after their withdrawal yesterday”.
So the Russians evacuated and returned to at least 6 different locations in northwestern Aleppo, so I wonder if those 6 locations are the only places the Russians have a presence, or were there some areas the Russians didn’t evacuate.