On June 30, Observer IL, a Twitter account observing defense developments, shared a satellite image providing a rare look at Russian naval forces currently deployed in the Tartus naval base in Syria.
The image shows that the base is currently hosting at least two diesel-electric attack submarines of the Improved-Kilo class, Stary Oskol and Krasnodar, as well as Orehovo-Zyevo, a Buyan-M corvette of the Caspian Fleet, and Admiral Grigorovich, a Grigorovich class frigate of Sea Fleet.
#Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet assets in #Tartus Port #Syria as per 23.06.2019, seen on @Maxar Satellite Imagery. #GEOINT #IMINT pic.twitter.com/HHsQRKk8X3
— Observer IL – #OSINT Analysis (@Obs_IL) June 30, 2019
All the vessels seen in the image are all capable of launching Kalibr cruise missiles against sea and land-based targets. This type of missiles was effectively used against high-value terrorists’ positions throughout Syria.
The Russian Naval base is located in the northern part of Tartus’ port. Earlier this year, Syria agreed to lease the port to Russia’s Stroytransgaz for 49 years. The Russian company will be spending up to $500 million in the development of the aging port, which will benefit the Russian base.
The Russian naval presence in Tartus pre-dates the recent anti-terrorism campaign. The Russian Navy relayed on a Soviet technical support point in Tartus before up-scaling the facility into a full naval base after 2015.
