Russian Naval Presence In the Mediterranean

The fishing boats of Tartous, Syria, may have to share the harbour with Russian warships. Photograph: Nicolas Randall/Alamy. (Photo from the Guardian)

From Syrian Fishing Port To Naval Power Base: Russia Moves Into The Mediterranean -- The Guardian

• Military foothold part of closer ties with Damascus
• Move could deter Israel from attacks on Syria

During balmy evenings in the sleepy Syrian port of Tartous locals promenade along the seafront or suck on hookahs discussing the two great pillars of their society: business and family.

Politics, such as it is in the tightly controlled one-party state, rarely gets a mention, and certainly not in public. But few could fail to wonder about the foreign sailors dockside and the grey warship dominating a harbour that was once a trading hub of the Phoenician empire and is now the centre of a new projection of power, this time by Syria's old ally Russia.

Tartous is being dredged and renovated to provide a permanent facility for the Russian navy, giving Moscow a key military foothold in the Mediterranean at a time when Russia's invasion of Georgia has led to fears of a new cold war.

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My Comment: The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!