Latakia is the home of Russia 's largest foreign electronic eavesdropping facility . Khmeimim Air Base is an airbase near Latakia converted to use by the Russian military in 2015 . On 24 November 2015 , Turkish forces shot down a Russian fighter plane over Latakia . One pilot was killed and the other rescued by Syrian military and brought to Khmeimim
shot down a Russian fighter plane
2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
Latakia