Russia sending navy ships to Syria amid uprising

Russian sailors do their morning exercises near a Navy vessel in the bay of the Ukrainian city Sevastopol, the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Sept. 6, 2011. / AFP/Getty Images

(CBS/AP) MOSCOW - Three Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation's base there, CBS News has confirmed. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow's growing concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad's future.

CBS News senior national security correspondent David Martin reports that two of the vessels are small, slow Russian amphibious ships which have been loading "material" believed to be small arms and ammunition at ports in the Black Sea. They have not yet left port and it is unclear whether troops will be on them.

The Russians say the shipments are intended to beef up security at their base at Tartus and there is no reason to doubt that, Martin reports. There have been protests at Tartus and Russian citizens have been threatened.

The third ship is a Dutch freighter called the MV Alead, which is carrying MI-25 attack helicopters, Martin reports. It will eventually add to Syrian firepower, but there is no evidence that these helicopters are being rushed to Syria to shore up Assad.

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Each ship is capable of carrying up to 300 marines and a dozen tanks, according to Russian media reports. That would make it the largest known Russian troop deployment to Syria, signaling that Moscow is becoming increasingly uneasy about Syria's slide toward civil war.

Interfax also quoted a deputy Russian air force chief as saying that Russia will give the necessary protection to its citizens in Syria.

"We must protect our citizens," Maj.-Gen. Vladimir Gradusov was quoted as saying. "We won't abandon the Russians and will evacuate them from the conflict zone, if necessary."

Asked whether the air force would provide air support for the navy squadron, Gradusov said they will act on orders.

The Defense Ministry had no immediate comment, and an official at the Black Sea fleet declined to comment.

Asked if the Pentagon is concerned about the plan, officials in Washington said it depends on the mission. They had no comment on the stated goal of protecting Russian citizens and the Russian military position there, something the U.S. would do in a foreign country if in a similar situation.

"I think we'd leave it to the Russian Ministry of Defense to speak to their naval movements and their national security decision-making process," said Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, adding that it's not the business of the U.S. Defense Department to "endorse or disapprove of an internal mission like that."

What would greatly concern the U.S., he said, is if the Russian naval ships were taking weapons or sending people to support the Assad regime in its crackdown.

"The secretary of defense (Leon Panetta) remains concerned about any efforts by external countries or external organizations to supply lethal arms to the Syrian regime so that they can turn around and use those to kill their own people," Kirby said.

Tartus is Russia's only naval base outside the former Soviet Union, serving Russian navy ships on missions to the Mediterranean and hosting an unspecified number of military personnel.

Russian officials have said that other Russian navy ships that have called at Tartus this year also had marines on board, but it has remained unclear whether they rotated the troops at Tartus or simply protected the ships during their mission and returned home.

Russia also has an unspecified number of military advisers teaching Syrians how to use Russian weapons, which make up the bulk of Syrian arsenals.

Syria is Russia's last remaining ally in the Middle East, and has been a major customer of Soviet and Russian weapons industries for the last four decades, acquiring billions of dollars worth of combat jets, helicopters, missiles, armored vehicles and other military gear.

Russia has shielded Assad's regime from international sanctions over its violent crackdown on protests. Moscow also has continued to provide Syria with arms, despite Western calls for a halt in supplies.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued a harsh reprimand of Russia last week, when she said that Moscow "dramatically" escalated the crisis in Syria by sending attack helicopters there. The State Department acknowledged later the helicopters she accused Moscow of sending were actually refurbished ones already owned by the Assad regime, but Russia was clearly annoyed, and the spat further fueled tensions ahead of President Barack Obama's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Mexico on Monday.

Opposition groups say more than 14,000 people have been killed since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests against Assad's autocratic regime. But a ferocious government crackdown led many to take up arms, and the conflict is now an armed insurgency.

Russia has criticized Assad for slow reforms and heavy-handed use of force, but has strongly opposed any sanctions or foreign interference in Syrian affairs.

[takacrat]

Great, now Russia will have a Military Mission. Israel on one side and Iraq between Iran! Lets see what happens now!!

[smittyc]

What happened in Egypt needs to be carefully weighed. The Muslim brotherhood now runs the show. A big problem has occurred though, Egypt is unstable. Syria is a bigger problem, there are multiple factions and they are enemies toward each other as well as toward the Assad government.That means civil war and 14,000 deaths will occur in a matter of a few days, as opposed to taking over a year.

[steve real]

Gosh fellas. Russian's sending troops and ships to Syria. This is a clear sign of desperation. Russia is a desperate team on the pitch. Yes sir. Why? No team sends in a ramp up in forces...and these are clearly evacuation forces....if they didn't hold a precarious position on the field of play.

[STEVENROHAN]

It makes you wonder if those who falsely parlayed a Bay of Pigs as an faux Arab Spring have the faintest clue about Russian interests in the region, as a base, as a relied on regional base of operation, and that pushing your Western/Arab Coup Finance luck without inherent knowledge of Russian interests is going to very rapidly pull you into another Vietnam.

Now the Russians are there and they are going to be pulled into a war with a few strikes against them. A war formed and financed by at 1st covert, now overt states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar with the blessings of The States.

You want another Vietnam? No? Then get someone acting as Secretary of State who actually is a credit to the role, not a liability. Greenhorn mistakes made by Clinton should have never been made in the 1st place had Obama had the intelligence to put the right person for the role in there, not one to play dress up tea time with for earning points.

The situation in Syria started as a faux uprising mislabeled as Arab Spring, with a Collateral Damage that brought in internal payback fighters.

Act I. Finance a coup and mislabel it as Arab Spring. Finance a Bay of Pigs. Now thick with the scent of bacon. with the tune of A failing orchestra.

Act II. Russians come in.


Made in Qatar. Made in Saudi Arabia. Authorized by The States. Russians are no fools. They are aware of the puppet show and the financiers of a classic coup.

[STEVENROHAN]

It makes you wonder if those who falsely parlayed a Bay of Pigs as an faux Arab Spring have the faintest clue about Russian interests in the region, as a base, as a relied on regional base of operation, and that pushing your Western/Arab Coup Finance luck without inherent knowledge of Russian interests is going to very rapidly pull you into another Vietnam.

Now the Russians are there and they are going to be pulled into a war with a few strikes against them. A war formed and financed by at 1st covert, now overt states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar with the blessings of The States.

You want another Vietnam? No? Then get someone acting as Secretary of State who actually is a credit to the role, not a liability. Greenhorn mistakes made by Clinton should have never been made in the 1st place had Obama had the intelligence to put the right person for the role in there, not one to play dress up tea time with for earning points.

The situation in Syria started as a faux uprising mislabeled as Arab Spring, with a Collateral Damage that brought in internal payback fighters.

Act I. Finance a coup and mislabel it as Arab Spring. Finance a Bay of Pigs. Now thick with the scent of bacon. with the tune of A failing orchestra.

Act II. Russians come in.


Made in Qatar. Made in Saudi Arabia. Authorized by The States. Russians are no fools. They are aware of the puppet show and the financiers of a classic coup.

[westerly1]

The U.S. has military bases and interests throughout the world. Yet, if Russia or China establish bases in Syria, Iran, etc., this action is tantamount to reigniting the cold war or starting WWIII. Mostly land-locked Russia has striven in it's history to seek warm water ports. If U.S. citizens or facilities were threatened, we would act to protect them. I don't want to see the U.S. go down the war path again over unfounded hysteria generated by politicians/media.

[Mike_in_USA]

No, sadly we don't protect our citizens or interests anymore. We just apologize, wring our hands and beg.

[John782011]

Mike, Since when do we not protect our citizens? Many insurgencies and catastrophies are lessened by the Navy putting a carrier or amphibious task force off of a coast to evacuate or protect American interests. Since we do not have an established presence in Syria what would you suggest we do?

[robert3242]

This situation's getting more dangerous by the day, it seems. The U.S. has reportedly asked the British to prevent one or more shipments of Russian attack helicopters from reaching Syria by sea. Now the Russians are sending a sizable contingent of their fleet. It's beginning to remind me of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. All it'll take will be one person on one side to make a single ill-advised, stupid move for this thing to morph very quickly into a global crisis of epic proportions.

[cbsnews_viewer]

Two ships are a sizable contingent of their fleet?

[Adress9871234]

Basically they advertise them weapons.
If allies bomb Assad's junta military bases i think they haven't problem.