The Main Intelligence Directorate (known as GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has confirmed that the Russians are planning to transfer some military equipment to Libya. The WSJ newspaper previously reported on this.
This is reported by the press service of GUR.
At the naval base in the Syrian city of Tartus, the Russians are waiting for warships to remove equipment and weapons. Mercenaries from the "African Corps" controlled by the Russian Ministry of Defense are also stationed there.
According to the plan, on January 5, large landing ships "Ivan Gren" and "Alexander Otrakovsky", as well as the dry cargo ship Sparta, will arrive in the Syrian port. On board the "Otrakovsky" is the chief of staff of the 121st brigade of landing ships of the Russian fleet, Captain 1st rank Davityan Yuri Albertovich. The ships are currently in the Mediterranean Sea.
Later, on January 8, two more Russian ships are scheduled to enter Tartus — the universal cargo ship Sparta II and the tanker Ivan Skobelev, which are planning to cross the Strait of Gibraltar as of January 3.
The cargo ships Sparta and Sparta II will be used to transport military equipment and weapons from Syria to Libya.
According to the WSJ, Russia is sending modern air defense systems, including radars for the S-400 and S-300 complexes, to Libya as Moscow tries to maintain a military presence in the Middle East after the fall of Bashar al-Assadʼs regime in Syria.
The overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria
Active clashes between rebels and Syrian troops began on November 27. The offensive was launched by the Syrian Revolutionary Forces in "response to months of continuous attacks on civilians" by the Assad regime in Aleppo province. By December 8, the Syrian opposition was in the capital Damascus, and President Bashar Assad had fled to Russia.
The Syrian opposition has begun forming an interim government. It will be headed by Mohammed Bashir until early 2025.
Meanwhile, Russia is negotiating with the new Syrian authorities to keep military bases there, and is also withdrawing a military contingent from the country. Before evacuating its troops, Russia wants to attract at least 25 more military transport aircraft to transfer troops, weapons and equipment from Khmeimim to Rostov-on-Don, Chkalovsk and Vladivostok. Recently, armored personnel carriers, probably taken out of Syria, were unloaded at one of the airfields in the Vladimir region.
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