Russia isn't confident enough of Assad's victory to keep their military in Tartus:
Russia has withdrawn all military personnel from its naval base in Syria and replaced them with civilian workers, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry did not say when the switch at the base at Tartus took place or how many personnel were deployed there. The minor facility is Russia's only naval outpost outside the former Soviet Union. It consists of several barracks and depots used to service Russian navy ships in the Mediterranean.
That's interesting. Russia's confidence in the outcome of the war seems in doubt.
