The Russian ship Sparta II has been unable to enter port for more than four days due to the refusal of the new Syrian authorities.
The withdrawal of Russian weapons and equipment from Syria, which began after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is under threat. Syrian authorities are refusing to allow a Russian evacuation ship to enter the port of Tartus, where Russia’s only foreign naval base is located. This is corroborated by MarineTraffic data, information from OSINT analysts and reports from military correspondents.
The ship “Sparta II” left the port of Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region on December 11 and reached the coast of Syria on January 5. However, since then, for more than four days, the cargo ship has been drifting to Tartus without entering the port. It is likely that the ship, which previously transported equipment from Crimea to Syria and is on US sanctions lists, did not receive permission from government officials.
As a result, the evacuation from Tartus has almost stopped, said the Maritime Executive. According to Maxar satellite images, the Russian military brought a large amount of equipment to the port – more than 100 trucks – and also dismantled air defense radar stations. However, all the equipment is still at the base and does not move on the piers, where no ships are docked.
The only way to evacuate people and equipment from Syria remains the Khmeimim airbase, where flights of the Russian Ministry of Defense are regularly sent, notes OSINT analyst Oliver Alexander.
To monitor Sparta II, a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was dispatched to the Mediterranean Sea. The Russian fleet left the Tartus base in early December, shortly after Syrian rebels launched an offensive on Damascus, ending Assad’s nearly 25-year rule.
Russia is in talks with the new Syrian authorities to keep its bases in the country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on December 16.
We remind you that after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, Russia withdrew its military from the front line in the north of the country and from the posts in the Alawite Mountains, but did not leave the two main bases .
Bloomberg previously wrote that Russia is negotiating with the new Syrian leadership to maintain bases at the naval port in Tartus and the Khmeimim airbase.
Source: korrespondent
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