Leader of Russia-backed Crimea to visit Syria

The leader of Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, is to visit Syria on Monday, the pro-government newspaper al-Watan said.

Russia-backed Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov will visit Damascus for two days.

Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's seven-year long conflict. The leaders of two other Russia-backed breakaway regions, Georgia's South Ossetia and Abkhazia, also visited Damascus this year.

Crimea has been under Western sanctions since it was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014.