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The
Russian Navy has begun its biggest war games in the high seas in decades that
will include manoeuvres off the shores of Syria.
More
than two dozen ships drawn Russia’s all four fleets, as well as long-range
warplanes, will conduct nine-day exercises in the Mediterranean and Black seas.
It
is the largest naval manoeuvres since the collapse of the Soviet Union, officials
said.
The
purpose of the war games is to improve coordination between different naval
groups during missions in “far-away sea zones,” the Russian Defence Ministry
said on Sunday.
Experts
suggested the exercises will serve to project Russia’s naval power to a highly
explosive region and render moral support for the embattled regime of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad.
“This
part of the world ocean has key geopolitical interest for Russia, considering
that the Russian Navy has a maintenance and supply facility in Syria,” the
Russian Navy General Staff said last month.
Russia
leases a naval base at the Syrian port of Tartous.
The
naval manoeuvres will involve training for landing operations on the Syrian
shore, informed sources told Russia’s Interfax news agency. Several big landing
ships taking part in the Russian war games carry marines, munitions, and
“military hardware,” Interfax reported last week.
Moscow
may also be preparing for possible evacuation of thousands of Russian nationals
from war-torn Syria, experts said.
About
9,000 Russians are registered with the Russian Embassy in Damascus, but their
total number may well exceed 30,000.
Thousands
of Russian women have married Syrian men who studied at Russian universities
and military academies in past decades.
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