MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. The operation to liberate the southeastern part of Syria’s Idlib province from radical militants, carried out in early 2020, put an end to shelling attacks on the Hmeymim air base, First Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of the Russian General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov said at a briefing for foreign military attaches on Thursday.

"In response to regular shelling attacks on civilian settlements, the positions of Syrian government troops and Russian military facilities, the Syrian army, supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces, had to carry out an operation to liberate the southeastern part of the Idlib province from radical militants at the beginning of the year. As a result, the government regained control of large territories and conditions were created to prevent shelling attacks on the Hmeymim air base and the city of Aleppo," Gerasimov pointed out.

He added that Damascus had also regained control of the M-5 highway, one of the country’s major thoroughfares. "All in all, the situation in Syria is stabilizing," the chief of the Russian General Staff emphasized.