Soldiers from the Russian and Turkish armies accompanied a convoy from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to inspect water supplies in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria.

The Russian Centre for Reconciliation in Syria (a division of the Russian Defense Ministry), on Wednesday, May 22, said that soldiers from both the Russian and Turkish armies escorted the mission’s convoy in the al-Hasakah province near the Turkish border.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, Major General Yury Popov, deputy head of the Russian Center, stated that soldiers from both armies accompanied the mission along the route between the city of Qamishli and the town of Alouk, passing through the village of al-Asadiyah, both ways.

Popov noted that the humanitarian mission aimed to assist in resolving water supply issues for the residents of the area.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense did not comment on the event at the time of this report.

The joint patrols resumed after a hiatus of about a year, with the latest patrol between Turkey and Russia in northern Syria recorded in April 2024, but it was not officially announced by Turkey or Russia, rather it was noted by local media active in the area.

The joint patrols between Russia and Turkey typically target two main regions in northern and eastern Syria, according to observations made by a reporter from Enab Baladi in al-Hasakah on the movement of these patrols, alongside official announcements by both the Turkish and Russian Ministries of Defense.

The Turkish forces enter from the village crossing of Shirk west of the town of al-Darbasiyah, where they then meet with the Russian forces coming either from their military base at the Qamishli airport or from their base east of Tal Tamer (formerly a dairy complex), as per the reporter.

The patrol route crosses through the villages of the southern countryside, most notably al-Darbasiyah and Amuda, and sometimes reaches the countryside of Abu Rasin in the northwest, where the frontlines between the SDF and the Syrian National Army (SNA) lie, before returning.

According to a study published by the Jusoor Center for Studies, there has been a decrease in the rate of joint patrols since the beginning of 2022, as the two sides conducted only ten joint patrols during the first quarter of the same year, at a rate of three patrols per month, whereas they organized 66 joint patrols in 2021, at a rate of more than five patrols per month.