European Space Imaging (EUSI) partner, Maxar collected satellite imagery of several key locations in Syria over the past several days that spotlight developments associated with the recent fall of the Assad regime. Activity was seen at two of the primary Russian military facilities in Syria, Tartus naval base and the Khmeimim airbase near Latakia. Based on the satellite images:
- Most of the Russian naval vessels have departed their traditional positions at the port of Tartus. Two Russian frigates have remain offshore, between 7-12 kilometers west and northwest of Tartus.
- Russian aircraft, helicopters and associated military equipment remain in place at the Khmeimim airbase near Latakia. At the adjacent civilian side of the airfield (known as the Bassel Al- Assad International Airport), larger groups of cars, trucks and people were gathered near the main terminal yesterday (9 December)
Separately, imagery collected yesterday (10 December) of the port at Latakia revealed that several Syrian missile boats had been damaged/destroyed, reportedly caused by recent airstrikes that were designed to destroy the former regime’s naval fleet. Please note that imagery of both Tartus and Latakia are panchromatic (black & white) images that were collected by our WorldView-1 satellite, which collects only in panchromatic mode.
