Two Mi-24 and one Mi-35 helicopters left the base onboard the heavy Antonov-124 transport airplane, along with some engineers and technical staff.
This month Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the bulk of the Russian military contingent in Syria to be pulled out after five months of airstrikes, saying Moscow had achieved most of its objectives. On Sunday, he congratulated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on regaining the city of Palmyra.
Rossiya-24 showed a Russian officer at the Hmeymim base saying that Moscow's forces remaining in Syria were enough "to repel at any moment any attack and accomplish any military tasks," according to Reuters.