Russia withdraws military equipment from Syrian port, images show

Analysis by the BBC's Verify team shows that Russia is intensifying its military withdrawal from Syria, with vehicles and containers being removed from Tartus, a key port on the Mediterranean coast. Following the fall of the Assad regime in December, verified videos showed Russian convoys moving north to the port. Subsequent satellite images showed military equipment being stored there.

However, new images released by Planet Labs on Wednesday show that most of the material has now disappeared after ships linked to the Russian military left. Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Wednesday that Russian officials held "frank discussions" with the new government in Damascus. There have been reports that the new Syrian government has canceled Russia's lease on the port, but government departments contacted by the BBC have not confirmed that a final decision has been made.

In recent years, Tartus has been a key base for Russia, allowing it to refuel, resupply, and repair ships in the Mediterranean. But since the fall of the Assad regime, warships previously docked at the port have disappeared from satellite images. Moscow supported the Assad regime throughout the Syrian civil war. Nevertheless, the Kremlin has expressed its desire to maintain control of the base and said in December that it was in talks with the new authorities to maintain a presence there.

However, evidence suggests that Moscow has now decided to remove valuable equipment from the port. Satellite images also show that Russian hardware has been moved from the nearby Khmeimim airbase for several weeks. Ship tracking websites show that two ships, the Sparta and the Sparta II, docked in Tartus on January 21 and 22. Both ships are owned by Oboronlogistika LLC, a shipping company subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Both ships are under US sanctions and have been linked by Ukraine to the transport of Russian weapons. They are roll-on/roll-off ships capable of transporting vehicles.

According to tracking website MarineTraffic, the Sparta II left the port on Monday. Satellite images also show that many military vehicles that were previously parked near the ship are no longer there. The ship's transponder signal was briefly picked up by MarineTraffic on Tuesday morning, showing it heading west near the coast of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. But since then, no signal has been received, suggesting the tracker may have been turned off. On Wednesday, satellite images showed that another ship, identified by experts as the Sparta, had also left the port. The images also show that many containers parked nearby have been removed. The Sparta's transponder signal has not been detected since docking in Tartus, suggesting its tracker may also have been turned off.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires all vessels over 300 gross tons to broadcast their signals at all times, except in certain limited circumstances. Ships may choose to turn off their tracking signals for legitimate reasons, such as when navigating high-risk piracy areas. But according to NATO, it may also indicate that the ship is trying to "conceal illegal activities." Former Belgian naval lieutenant and analyst, maritime expert Frederik Van Lokeren, said he is "very confident" that the ship leaving the port was the Sparta, based on satellite images. The BBC Verify team had previously monitored the Sparta, and the area where it was previously docked is now empty.

The exact destination of these ships is not yet known. Van Lokeren told BBC Verify that they may be en route to Libya, where the Kremlin already has a significant military presence supporting warlord Khalifa Haftar in Tobruk. Last week, Ukrainian military intelligence told BBC Verify that since mid-December, Russian flights have transferred military personnel and equipment from Khmeimim, another Russian base in Syria, to airbases in Libya at least 10 times. However, Van Lokeren also said that the ships could also be heading to Russia, saying that "military equipment is very likely to end up being deployed on the front lines against Ukraine."

Dmitry Gorenburg, a former Soviet security expert at Harvard University, told BBC Verify that these movements indicate that Russia's presence in Tartus is coming to an end. "I don't know if additional ships are needed to remove everything, but it seems to me that it is largely irrelevant," he said. "It's just a matter of time before Russia's military presence at the base ends. We'll have to wait and see what happens next."