Russian Evacuation Fleet Denied Entry Into Syrian Port

The new Syrian authorities are not allowing Russian ships to enter the Tartus Naval Base to evacuate the remaining of Moscow’s naval assets there.

The ships that are evacuating military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces have been blocked from entering the Syrian port city of Tartus, according to real-time data from the MarineTraffic website.

Three Russian ships are currently drifting at the entrance to the port: Sparta, Ivan Gren, and Alexander Otrakovsky. The logistics vessel Sparta has been laid up since January 5.

While there is no information from the Russian or Syrian government, Ukrainian Navy Spokesperson, Dmytro Pletenchuk told UATV on Saturday, “They (Russian evacuation fleet) are still at sea. They have not been granted permission to enter the port and have been anchored offshore for several days.”

On December 24, one of the ships in the evacuation conveys, “Ursa Major” was  hit by suspected Ukrainian missiles and sank off the Spanish Coast. While Kyiv has not claimed responsibility, investigators examining the sinking ship found a 50 by 50 centimeter hole with inward torn edges, leading to suspicion of an impact by an external precision projectile.

The 142-meter vessel, capable of carrying 9,500 tons, was transporting two 380-ton cranes to the Russian Far-east port of Vladivostok.