MOSCOW: Big landing ships of the Russian Northern Fleet, which are sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, will call at a Russian naval supply base at the Syrian port of Tartus in a few days, a source in the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces told reporters on Friday.

“It is planned that at the end of this week or at the beginning of next week three big landing ships of the Northern Fleet – Alexander Otrakovsky, Georgy Pobedonosets, Kondopoga which are carrying marines – will visit Syria.

“Over the limited capacities of the mooring infrastructure in Tartus two warships will enter directly the port and will be moored there, the third warship will be anchored in the harbour,” the source said.

“Each big landing ship is carrying a reinforced squadron of about 120 marines with firearms, including submachine guns, machine guns, grenade launchers and flamethrowers, and military hardware, including floating armoured personnel carriers, which provide for their actions on the sea coast,” the source noted.

“Our warships will call at Tartus to replenish their material stocks. The warships will stay there for several days, then they will head for the northeastern part of the Mediterranean Sea in order to enter the Black Sea on August 12 through the Black Sea straits and to arrive at a naval base in Novorossiisk,” he said without elaborating whether Russian marines will stay at the Russian naval base to ensure its security. ============ =========

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