Russia is working with Syria to patrol border areas that are under the Bashar al-Assad government’s control. On 24 January, Russia’s Defence Ministry released a statement about its joint air patrol mission with Syrian military pilots along Syria’s borders. That day, the Russian pilots took off from the Hmeimim Air Base near the coastal city of Jableh while the Syrians took off from airfields near the capital. Fighter, fighter-bomber, and early warning and control aircraft were involved in this joint air patrol. The route of this mission went from along the Golan Heights to southern Syria, and …