Russia is pulling out some of its military forces from Syria, including an aircraft carrier, Russian General Valery Gerasimov said Friday. The Admiral Kuznetsov carrier is heading to the northern Russian port of Severomorsk, Gerasimov said. Russia is expected to maintain two military bases in the Middle Eastern country, a naval base in Tartus and an airbase in Latakia. Moscow launched an air campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015. Russia announced that it was withdrawing the bulk of its military forces from Syria in March last year, but soon intensified its role as a supporter of Syria's ruling regime in the country's bloody civil war.