The lightning attack of rebels and anti-government forces on Syriawhich began on November 27, 2024 and ended with the overthrow of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, has caused collateral damage for both Iran and Russia.
Especially as far as Russia is concerned, the loss of the Tartus naval base in western Syria is a huge blow for Moscow, as it has lost a strategically important military installation from which it could deploy naval forces across the Mediterranean.
In fact, satellite images show that Russian naval ships have left the Russian base in Tartous and some of the ships have dropped anchor offshore, following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime by rebel forces.
2024 PLANET LABS INC./Handout via REUTERS
An image taken on December 9 by Planet Labs shows at least three ships of the Russian Mediterranean fleetincluding of two guided missile frigates and one supply shipanchored about eight miles northwest of Tartus. The rest of the fleet could not be immediately located by satellite imagery.
In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Syrian rebels seized Damascus last Sunday (08.12.2024) after a lightning advance that sent Assad fleeing to Russia, following a 13-year civil war and 54 years of autocratic rule by his family.
2024 PLANET LABS INC./Handout via REUTERS
Moscow, an ally of the Assad regime for decades, is now trying to reach an agreement with the rebels to guarantee the security of two strategically important military bases. Russia has the Khmeimim airbase in Syria’s Latakia province and a naval base in Tartus on the coast.
Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
The facility in Tartus is Russia’s only repair and supply hub in the Mediterranean, and Moscow has used Syria as a staging post for its military’s external partners to and from Africa. Previously, Russia had five surface ships and one submarine at Tartusaccording to analysis of satellite images by BlackSky and Planet Labs.
The fleet departed the naval base sometime between Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, according to satellite images.