Russia Resupplies Tartous With Four-Ship Convoy Under Moscow-Damascus Deal

First convoy since deal

A four-vessel Russian convoy delivered supplies to the port of Tartous in Syria for the first time since the Moscow-Damascus deal was signed in August, with the convoy reaching Tartous on September 7. Reuters reported that satellite imagery verified by Reuters showed the Ro-Ro cargo ship Sparta and the navy replenishment oiler Akademik Pashin docked on September 8 in Tartous at piers 3 and 4, while Russian tanker General Skobelev remained offshore. The new understanding provides for civilian facilities used by Russia to be transferred to Syrian control and military sites to be turned into joint training centres, with Russian forces to remain at the bases under the agreement.

Al Jazeera said the agreement will convert both facilities into “joint training and capacity-building centres”, with Syria assuming control of civilian operations, and noted that Putin and Ahmed al-Sharaa continued discussions on the future of the bases. The operation was tracked by Reuters and maritime intelligence firm SynMax, and Reuters reported that a surveillance balloon was seen flying over the port during the unloading operation.

Reporting for this sectionAl JazeeraReuters

What was on board

Reuters said a Syrian military source and a Russian-Syrian businessman familiar with the operation said Sparta unloaded supplies including ammunition destined for Hmeimim and Tartous, while Reuters could not independently confirm the contents of the shipment or their intended recipients.

SynMax identified the fourth vessel in the convoy as Admiral Levchenko, a Russian Udaloy-class destroyer, and Reuters reported that the vessels stopped transmitting their signal shortly after crossing Strait of Gibraltar towards the Mediterranean.

Al Jazeera Net said the fleet included the missile destroyer Adm. Levchenko, the logistics support ship Sparta, the replenishment vessel Akademik Pashin, and the oil tanker General Skopylev, with a surveillance and reconnaissance balloon seen flying over the port to secure unloading operations.

In Al Jazeera’s account, the memorandum of understanding was reached after 18 months of negotiations, and it said the agreement would convert the facilities long used by Moscow into joint training and capacity-building centres.

The Devdiscourse report similarly described the four-vessel convoy reaching Tartous on September 7 and said the accord permits the transfer of civilian facilities to Syrian control while maintaining Russian forces at military sites for joint training purposes.

Reporting for this sectionReutersAl-Jazeera Net

Implications for Russia and Syria

The Reuters report framed the resupply as an early indication that Moscow is continuing to resupply facilities at Tartous port and the Hmeimim airbase under the new deal, which Russia has used to project power across the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa. Al Jazeera said Moscow intervened militarily to prop up former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during Syria’s 13-year civil war, and that his 2024 removal sharply curtailed Moscow’s influence across the Middle East. Al Jazeera also said Damascus continues to demand the extradition of Assad, who is currently sheltering in Moscow, while Russia seeks to rebuild ties with the new Syrian administration to safeguard its only two military facilities outside the former Soviet Union.

Euronews described the August 9 memorandum of understanding as ending negotiations that lasted about 18 months since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, and said Syrian authorities regain control of civilian facilities at the Hmeimim Air Base and the commercial part of Tartous Port. Euronews added that the military sites become joint training and qualification centres, with Russian forces remaining at the two bases under a different arrangement from the one that existed during Assad’s era.

Reporting for this sectionAl JazeeraEuronews