Russia Is Sending 4 Ships To Its Bases In Syria To Evacuate Weapons, Ukraine Intelligence Says

• Russia is dispatching 4 ships to its bases successful Syria, per Ukraine's main intelligence directorate.
• They will evacuate weapons and subject instrumentality from its cardinal guidelines successful Tartus, they said.
• Russia is trying to unafraid a woody pinch Syria's caller activity to support nan bases, per reports.

Russia is sending 4 ships to its bases successful Syria to evacuate weapons and subject equipment, according to Ukraine's main intelligence directorate (GUR).

In a Telegram post connected Thursday, nan GUR said that Russia was moving its Ivan Gren-class ample landing vessel and nan Ropucha-class vessel landing vessel Olenegorskiy Gornyak from nan Norwegian Sea to Tartus connected Syria's Mediterranean coast.

Their mission, it said, is to evacuate weapons and equipment.

It besides said nan Russian Sparta and Sparta II cargo ships near Baltiysk, Kaliningrad Oblast, and St Petersburg, respectively, and are heading to Tartus to carrier subject instrumentality from nan Russian base.

The trips are agelong voyages, requiring nan ships to sail agelong stretches of European coastline to entree nan Mediterranean.

Russia was a adjacent state of Syria's recently-toppled ruler Bashar Assad. It struck a 49-year lease pinch his authorities for two bases successful Syria — nan Hmeimim aerial guidelines and nan Tartus naval guidelines — which it has utilized since 2017 to task powerfulness successful nan Mediterranean and into Africa.

However, these bases person travel nether threat aft Syrian rebels, led by nan Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, overthrew Assad connected Sunday and formed a transitional government.

On Sunday, Russia's overseas ministry said it was maintaining interaction pinch "all" Syrian guidance groups, adding that while Russia's Syrian bases are connected precocious alert, there's nary superior threat to their information astatine nan moment.

The TASS authorities news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov arsenic saying that Russia established nonstop interaction pinch HTS successful Damascus.

Sources acquainted pinch knowledge of nan matter told Bloomberg connected Thursday that talks were taking spot for Russian forces to enactment astatine nan bases and that Russia was nearing a woody pinch Syria's caller leadership.

Images taken this week by Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider connected Tuesday showed Russian craft still coming astatine nan Hmeimim Air Base, but warships nary longer stationed astatine its adjacent naval installation successful Tartus.

Videos captured by The Times of London's Middle East analogous connected Friday showed Russian trucks entering nan Hmeimim Air Base.

On Thursday, analysts from nan Institute for nan Study of War said Russia's ships whitethorn beryllium connected nan move arsenic a precaution successful lawsuit it needs much broad evacuations.

They besides said that it would astir apt return weeks for nan Russian ships to get to Tartus.