Russia plans to send the first group of the Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainers to Syria until the end of 2014 and the last batch will be sent in 2016, according to the contract between Moscow and Damascus for 36 aircraft.

Russia plans to send the first group of the Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainers to Syria until the end of 2014 and the last batch will be sent in 2016, according to the contract between Moscow and Damascus for 36 aircraft, the Kommersant newspaper wrote Monday, citing a source close to Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport.

According to the source, nine aircrafts will be sent to Damascus until the end of this year, and in the next two years - 12 and 15 respectively, RIA Novosti reported.

"Thus, we will fulfill obligations under a previously signed contract for the supply of 36 Yak-130 jets," the newspaper quoted the source.

Last June, Kommersant wrote that Syria had transferred some $100 million of advance payment to Russia for the first six Yak-130 jets under a contract signed in December 2011. At that moment all Yak-130s were ready, waiting only for a political decision to install engines and avionics, and then to be sent to Syria, according to the RIA Novosti source back in the days.

Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors, mainly the Saudi Arabia and Turkey, of orchestrating the conflict by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.

Today hundreds of armed groups, including terrorist takfiri brigades affiliated with Al-Qaeda, are battling both the national army and each other, complicating any efforts to reach a political settlement.