Russia Expands Military Facilities in Syria
Voice of America
Russia is expanding its navy base at the Syrian port of Tartus and planning to construct a floating dock to boost the port’s ship repair facilities, according to Russian military officials.
The move comes only weeks after the Russian military extended one of the runways at its Hmeimim airbase, adding to its military foothold in the eastern Mediterranean. The floating dock is scheduled to be completed next year, says Russia’s TASS news agency, quoting military officials. Upgrading the repair facilities at the Tartus base will allow the Russian navy to avoid dispatching ships to naval installations in the Black Sea for maintenance, according to Western military officials. The Russian naval facility in Tartus is leased from the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, and four years ago the Russian military classified it as a Material-Technical Support Point and not formally as a base. That changed in 2017 following a deal struck by Syria with Moscow, which has been waging a military campaign in Syria in support of Assad, allowing him to reclaim control from rebels over much of the country. The deal allows Russia use of the naval facility free of charge for 49 years and gives the Kremlin sovereign jurisdiction over the base. The agreement also allows Russia to keep a dozen warships — including nuclear-powered vessels — at Tartus, the only navy facility the Kremlin possesses outside the former Soviet Union.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.