Airborne Troops are ready to ensure secure evacuation of Russians from Syria - commander

Moscow Interfax in English 18 Dec 12 

MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Airborne Troops have experience evacuating Russians from 'hot spots' and if necessary are ready at the president's order to solve such a task in Syria, Airborne Troops Commander Col. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov told Interfax. 

"I state it utmost responsibility: we are ready," Shamanov said in reply to a relevant question from Interfax-AVN. 

"The Airborne Troops have experience with such operations, for example, the evacuation of the embassy [personnel] from Kabul," he recalled. 

"If there is an order from the president and the defense minister, we are capable to solve such a task," Shamanov said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov confirmed earlier that Russia has been working on the possibility of evacuating Russians from Syria.