A number of warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are prepared to go to Syria, a source in the Russian General Staff told Itar-Tass news agency on Friday.
"The Mediterranean Sea is a zone of the Black Sea Fleet responsibility. Hence, warships may go there in the case it is necessary to protect the Russian logistics base in Tartous, Syria," it said.
According to the source, "several warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, including large landing ships with marines aboard, are fully prepared to go on the voyage."
However, it strongly denied U.S. media reports claiming that a Black Sea Fleet warship had already headed for Tartous. "All the ships are staying in Sevastopol but the Cesar Kunikov large landing ship. Either the U.S. intelligence service works poorly or they have a poor knowledge of geography," it said.
The Cesar Kunikov large landing ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which is returning from Italian Messina to base, passed the Bosporus Strait on Friday. It will return to Sevastopol on Saturday, the source said.
The U.S. media said that Russia had sent a small group of servicemen to Syria for protecting the Tartous base. NBC said with the reference to a U.S. official that the servicemen were going to Tartous aboard a warship. The State Department spokesperson said she could not confirm the NBC report.
A group of Russian warships led by the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrying cruiser visited Tartous in January. The group visited the port for replenishing reserves and giving maintenance to ship systems.
Tartous is the only Russian naval base outside of the former Soviet territory - this is the logistics center serving Russian ships on missions in the Mediterranean Sea. The base opened in 1971 under an agreement with the Syrian government.
Russian warships not heading for Syria - agency
A number of warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are prepared to go to Syria, a source in the Russian General Staff told Itar-Tass news agency on Friday.
