MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/. Two militants’ combat drones were downed near the Russian airbase at Syria’s Hmeymim on Saturday evening, Alexander Shcherbitsky, chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on Sunday
"On July 11, Russia air defense systems spotted unmanned aerial vehicles approaching the Hmeymim airbase from the northeastern direction. Two militants’ combat drones were downed at a distance of five kilometers of the base," he said, adding that no one was hurt and no material damage was done to the base, which continues to operate routinely.
He said that Jabhat al-Nusra (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) militants had shelled the settlement of al-Dana in the Idlib governorate during the day.
According to Shcherbitsky, the ceasefire is in force in the Idlib de-escalation zone under the Russia-Turkish agreements of March 6, 2020. "No shelling attacks by Turkey-controlled armed groups were reported in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone during the past day," he said, adding that Russian military police units continue patrol missions in the Aleppo and Raqqa governorates.
The Russian reconciliation center once again called on commanders of illegal armed groups to stop armed provocations and embark on a path of peaceful settlement of the situation in the areas they control.
The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.