Russia starts evacuating nationals from Syria

[No Elephants]

Jan 22, 10:06 PM EST

Russia starts evacuating nationals from Syria

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

MASNAA, Lebanon (AP) -- Key Syrian ally Russia began evacuating its citizens from the country on Tuesday as the civil war gathered momentum in the capital Damascus with intense fighting around the international airport.

The evacuation was the strongest sign yet of Moscow's waning confidence in the ability of its ally President Bashar Assad to hold onto power. The U.N. chief said Tuesday that a diplomatic conclusion to the war seems unlikely.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the Russian evacuations indicate "the continued deterioration of the security situation and the violence that Assad is leading against his own people."

Four buses carrying about 80 people, mostly women married to Syrians and their children, crossed out of the country over land into neighboring Lebanon in the early afternoon. The land route was presumably chosen because of renewed fighting near the Damascus airport.

The first of two planes sent to pick up the Russians took off late Tuesday from Beirut and landed shortly after 5 a.m. (0100 GMT) in Moscow. Russia's Emergencies Ministry, which sent the planes, said the passengers were being given medical examinations before leaving the airport. It was unclear if any of them had been injured in the fighting.

<snip>

The officials said thousands more evacuations could follow - possibly by both air and sea.

Russia has been Assad's main ally since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, selling arms, providing technical support and, along with China, using its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to shield Damascus from international sanctions over the Syrian regime's brutal crackdown on dissent.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-22-22-06-25

Apparently, thousands of Russian women married to Syrian men are living in Syria.

I hope to heaven that this means Russia thinks Assad is about to fall.

[Enthusiast]

1. Syrian men have extra pheromones.

:evilgrin:

[No Elephants]

2. Don't know about that. I've met some. I'm thinking mail order brides.

[Enthusiast]

3. Me too.