Russian Warship's Syrian Role Clarified
Russian warship on routine exercise – Moscow denies a role in Syrian crisis
A Russian amphibious landing ship, the Caesar Kunikov left the Black Sea port of Sevastopol for what a Black Sea Fleet officer said was a routine exercise at a training base, in response to media reports earlier this week that it could be heading for Syria.
Some Ukrainian media sources also reported, referring to CNN and other western media, that another large amphibious ship from the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Nikolai Filchenkov, was heading for the Syrian port of Tartus carrying weapons and marines to defend Russia’s naval facility.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice lashed out at Russia over its alleged arms supplies to Syria. Moscow strongly rejected the claims, saying that Russia was not “delivering to Syria, or anywhere else, items that could be used against peaceful demonstrators.”