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Russia Evacuates Troops From Syrian Tartus

Russia Evacuates Troops From Syrian Tartus

Asia Middle East Russia Syria

The Russians have initiated the evacuation of their military group from the Syrian port of Tartus.

Satellite images published by Radio Liberty reveal the loading of equipment onto the “Syrian Express” vessels Sparta and Sparta II, which belong to the Russian company Oboronlogistika.

Comparison of images from January 18 and 27 shows that Sparta II has already departed the port, and much of the equipment previously visible at the berth is now gone.

Meanwhile, Sparta remains docked, with the area near it—almost empty on January 18—is now filled with containers.

As a reminder, Militarnyi reported that Sparta II had entered the military unit of the port of Tartu on January 21.

On December 13, 2024, the Sparta II left the Russian naval base in Baltiysk, on January 6, 2025, it was spotted in the Mediterranean Sea in the Tunisian EEZ, and on January 8, the ship was off the Syrian coast.

Recently, it was reported that the new Syrian government had terminated an investment agreement with a Russian company to manage the port of Tartus, where Russia’s only foreign naval base is located.

Now, all revenues from the management of the Tartus seaport will go to the “benefit of the Syrian state,” and the workers who work there will return to the management of the Syrian side.

The naval base in Tartus on the Syrian coast of the Mediterranean Sea had been owned by the USSR since 1971.

After its collapse, it became Russian property and was used to a limited extent to replenish fuel and supplies for Russian Navy ships.

With the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2012, the Russian Navy began active use of the base. It was modernized to accommodate large displacement ships.

After the outbreak of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the base became an important hub for the Russian Navy’s military presence in the Mediterranean.

Asia Middle East Russia Syria