Russian naval ships en route to Mediterranean Sea

Russian naval ships en route to Mediterranean Sea - source

 

Russia's Baltic Fleet has sent a group of its warships and support vessels to the Syrian coast.

KALININGRAD. Dec 18 (Interfax-AVN)  

"The escort vessel Yaroslav the Wise, the large assault ships Kaliningrad and Alexander Shabalin, the tanker Lena and a towboat, all based in Baltiisk, embarked on a long-range deployment to the Mediterranean Sea on Monday. They are heading to the Syrian coast to assist in a possible evacuation of Russian citizens," a Baltiisk source told Interfax. 

"Preparations for the deployment were carried out in a hurry and were heavily classified. Information about it appeared just a few days ago," the source said. 

"The command has not set any deadline for the return to Baltiisk because it will depend on the further situation in Syria. Some of the ships could transport evacuated citizens to Russian Black Sea ports," he said. 

A military-diplomatic source told Interfax-AVN earlier that Russian citizens would be evacuated from Syria by sea and by air, should the situation in the country become critical and threaten the lives of Russians residing there.

"We have plans to evacuate Russians living there in the event of a critical situation in Syria. I am primarily speaking about ships that could be sent to the Syrian coast under the protection of naval ships. Aircraft of the Emergency Situations Ministry could also be used, as it happened during the evacuation of Russian oil company employees from Iraq," he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said last week that it was drawing up action plans it could use to evacuate Russian citizens from Syria, should such a need arise.