The Russian Navy intends to build its presence in the Mediterranean Sea - particularly in the area close to Syrian shores - to up to 10 battleships, announced Admiral of the Fleet Viktor Chirkov.
"Battleships" clearly just means warships. Nobody has actual "battleships" these days. But aside from that, it is interesting that this flotilla will include:
Currently there are seven warships deployed in the area: landing craft carriers 'Aleksandr Shabalin’, ‘Admiral Nevelskoy’, ‘Peresvet’, ‘Novocherkassk’ and ‘Minsk’ from Russia’s Black and Baltic Sea Fleets, as well as the escort vessel ‘Neustrashimy’, and large anti-submarine ship ‘Admiral Panteleyev’.
According to previous reports, the missile-carrying cruiser ‘Moskva’ passed the Straits of Gibraltar on September 10 and is expected to arrive at its final destination in eastern Mediterranean on September 15 or 16.
Two battleships of the Russia’s Black Fleet, guided missile destroyer ‘Smetlivy’ and landing craft carrier ‘Nikolay Filchenkov’ left their bases in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk respectively and early on Friday morning have passed the Bosphorus Strait, heading to the eastern Mediterranean.
The SSV-201 reconnaissance ship ‘Priazovye’ also reportedly joined the group in the Eastern Mediterranean in early September.
I've mentioned the recon ship. It can suck up our electronic emissions for future use. I also noted Neustrashimy and Panteleyev as able to monitor missiles launches and detect submarines (especially if any of our big Tomahawk-carrying SSGNs are in the eastern Mediterranean).
I also wondered what the "special cargo" that Filchenkov picked up in Sevastopol.
Now the Russians say that 5 amphibious warfare ships are heading to the region? That means 6 total will be there. That's quite an amphibious armada.
My question is what is it there for? To evacuate Russian citizens? If so, this hardly speaks to confidence in Assad's ability to continue fighting.
Could Russia be sending troops to Syria? That doesn't speak of confidence in Assad's ability to hold, either.
I've long wondered if Putin would send troops to Syria as a show of force to bolster Assad's forces' morale.
Plus they could be a bit of a shield against American intervention when the WMD disarmament charade is ended. That "special cargo" might (and this is pure speculation on my part) be radar that Russians would operate and which we wouldn't dare attack, providing Assad with warning regardless of what we do. Or maybe GPS jamming equipment?
Neither basic explanation speaks well of Assad's capacity to fight.
This WMD deal might yet buy Assad time to survive. But it doesn't have to mean Assad wins. Assad is in bad shape and we shouldn't cooperate in his survival.
UPDATE: This post may have been more prescient than I wish from my own mental health perspective, my disclaimers notwithstanding.
