Satellite imagery and ship tracking data reviewed by The New York Times show that Russian naval and commercial activity in the key Syrian port of Tartus — which has played a critical role in Moscow’s projection of military power in the region — has ceased since Bashar al-Assad’s government fell on Sunday.
Five large Russian military vessels and a submarine were visible in the port in satellite images captured on Dec. 5 and 6, but had departed in images taken on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The satellite images captured on Tuesday show two of three frigates loitering several miles offshore. It is unclear whether the ships will stay in this location in the near future, or sail to another destination.
Since the deepwater port at Tartus was established in 1971, Moscow has maintained a nearly continuous presence there, first for the Soviet Union and then for Russia. It is Russia’s only such port in the Mediterranean.
Among the vessels still docked at Tartus are what appear to be several small Syrian naval ships, despite claims by Israel’s defense ministry that Israeli airstrikes had completely destroyed the Syrian Navy in the port city of Latakia on Tuesday.
No cargo ships have entered or departed from Tartus since at least Monday, according to ship tracking data from MarineTraffic, a commercial ship tracking agency. Two small commercial vessels arrived in the waters outside the port on Monday and Wednesday morning but have not yet docked at the port itself, according to MarineTraffic.
Other ships are shunning the port entirely. Two Russian vessels that regularly transport grain from Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine to Syria and appeared to be en route for another delivery to Tartus have altered course in recent days. The ships, including the Mikhail Nenashev, are currently circling off the coast of Cyprus.
An Iranian oil tanker, the Lotus, carrying 750,000 barrels of crude oil and destined for Syria, abruptly turned around in the Red Sea on Sunday morning, The Times reported earlier.
Syria under Mr. al-Assad was heavily dependent on oil from its ally Iran to sustain its refineries, according to Viktor Katona, head of oil analysis at Kpler, a company that monitors global trade.
“With Iranian tankers making a U-turn after Assad’s departure, transportation fuels would be a rarity in Syria as the country would most probably start running out of diesel and gasoline inventories quite soon,” he said.
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