By Feras Dalatey
TARTOUS, Syria, Sept 14 (Reuters) – A convoy of Russian naval and cargo vessels delivered supplies last week to coastal facilities long used by Moscow’s military, two sources familiar with the operation said, in the first such mission since Damascus and Moscow agreed last month on the future of Russia’s military presence in the country.
The operation offers an early indication that Moscow is continuing to resupply facilities at Tartous port and the Hmeimim airbase under the new deal, which provides for civilian facilities used by Russia to be transferred to Syrian control and military sites to be turned into joint training centres.
Russian forces are to remain at the bases under the agreement. Russia has used Hmeimim and Tartous to project power across the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa. Tartous provides Moscow with its only naval repair and replenishment facility in the Mediterranean.
Moscow has supplied both sites in recent months but last week’s was the first since the August 9 agreement was announced.
The four-vessel convoy arrived at the Mediterranean port of Tartous on September 7, according to movements tracked by Reuters and maritime intelligence firm SynMax.
Satellite imagery verified by Reuters showed the Russian Ro-Ro cargo ship Sparta and navy replenishment oiler Akademik Pashin docked on September 8 in Tartous at piers 3 and 4, respectively.
A Reuters reporter saw the two vessels docked there on September 9, while Russian tanker General Skobelev remained offshore. A surveillance balloon was seen flying over the port during the unloading operation.
A Syrian military source and a Russian-Syrian businessman familiar with the operation said Sparta unloaded supplies including ammunition destined for Hmeimim and Tartous. Reuters could not independently confirm the contents of the shipment or their intended recipients.
SynMax identified the fourth vessel in the convoy as Admiral Levchenko, a Russian Udaloy-class destroyer.
Syria’s General Authority of Ports and Customs and Russia’s embassy in Damascus did not respond to requests for comment.
VESSELS SAILED DARK
The vessels stopped transmitting their signal shortly after crossing Strait of Gibraltar towards the Mediterranean. Reuters tracked the group via satellite imagery as it continued east and ultimately reached the Syrian coast.
Sparta has long been used in Russian military logistics in Syria and is under U.S. sanctions. General Skobelev is also under Western sanctions over transporting Russian oil.
Damascus and Moscow reached the agreement over Hmeimim and Tartous after 18 months of negotiations following the December 2024 overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally.
(Additional reporting by Edward James Carron; Writing by Feras Dalatey; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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