At 17:00 March 2, units of the Russian Military Police deployed in the town of Saraqib in eastern Idlib, the Russian military announced in an official statement.

According to the statement, Russian forces will guarantee “security” and allow a peaceful passage of cars through the M5 and M4 highways.

The official deployment of Russian forces in Saraqib followed an advance of the Syrian Army supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Syrians cleared Saraqib of Turkish forces and their al-Qaeda allies.

The Russian military presence in the town is designed to prevent further Turkish attempts to capture it and cut off the M5 highway.