Satellite images appear to show Russian warships leaving their main port in Syria on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, abandoning Moscow's only overseas naval base, U.S. Naval Institute News reported.
Three Russian Navy guided-missile frigates and at least two support ships were in port in Tartus on Dec. 5, USNI News reported. On Tuesday, those ships had left port and at least two of the Adm. Gorshkov-class frigates were operating off the coast of Syria.
The base had been home to two Adm. Gorshkov-class frigates, an Adm. Grigorivich-class frigate and an improved Kilo-class attack boat. The Gorshkov and Grigorivich frigates are the most modern surface ships in the Russian fleet. Both are capable of fielding the long-range Kalibir land attack missile and the Tsirkon hypersonic anti-ship missile, according to USNI News.
Other satellite photos taken Monday showed activity continuing at Russia's Hmeimim airbase in western Syria, with jets clearly visible on the tarmac, the BBC reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Moscow would enter talks with the new ruling government following the overthrow of dictator Bashar Assad about Russia's future military presence. Russian forces were key to supporting Assad's regime.
Tartus has been a key base for Russian military might in the Mediterranean, providing a logistics hub for naval forces abroad, USNI News reported. Built by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s, the base was seldom used after the Cold War until Russian forces invaded Crimea in 2012. After that, Russia's navy used Tartus for operations during the early days of the invasion of Ukraine. Tartus and the Russian air base in Latakia have been key hubs to support Russian operations in Africa.
The satellite photos also showed a purported strike by Israel Defense Forces on Syrian missile boats at the naval base in Latakia, about 50 miles north of Tartus, according to USNI News. The photos showed sunken Osa-class missile boats that were armed with SS-N-2C Styx surface-to-surface anti-ship cruise missiles.