A Russian vessel is pictured astatine the Russian naval guidelines successful the Syrian Mediterranean larboard of Tartus connected September 26, 2019. (Photo by MAXIME POPOV/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Syria and Russia reached a memorandum of knowing successful early August connected the early of Russia’s entree to the strategical coastal Tartus naval and Hmeimim aerial bases. While Russia will still clasp conditional entree going forward, the days of it mostly controlling these sites arsenic overseas subject bases are complete for good. In retrospect, Moscow ne'er realized the afloat strategical imaginable of its entree to Tartus, which dates backmost to the early 1970s.
Syria announced the memorandum connected August 9, saying it was the culmination of astir 18 months of negotiations led by the Foreign Ministry.
“The memorandum provides for authorities guidance of civilian facilities, including Hmeimim Airport and the 4th commercialized quay astatine Tartus Port, bringing them gradually nether civilian administration,” Syria’s state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported connected August 10. The takeover of Tartus, the SANA study outlined, “is group to boost the port’s operational capacity, velocity up cargo handling and easiness unit connected different berths.”
Additionally, subject accommodation astatine the tract will go training centers aft a three-month transitional process. So, while Russian troops tin stay, they will enactment nether position decided by Damascus, a complete reversal of the privileged statement Moscow enjoyed earlier December 2024, including ineligible immunity for Russian troops and their families. Long gone are the days erstwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin could summon his Syrian counterpart from the statesmanlike palace successful Damascus to Hmeimim to meet him. In 1 specified astonishment sojourn successful December 2017, Assad was physically blocked by a Russian worker from pursuing the Russian leader successful a degrading reminder of who was leader successful that relationship. Today, it’s the remaining Russian soldiers successful Syria who travel the rules of their hosts.
“The statement does not mean a complete Russian withdrawal from Syria,” noted Ibrahim Hamidi, editor-in-chief of the Saudi-owned Al Majalla. “But according to what has been announced, it does people the extremity of the ‘Russian bases’ exemplary established nether the Assad authorities and a modulation toward a caller Russian beingness regulated successful statement pinch Syria’s caller government.”
India’s The Sunday Guardian was overmuch much scathing. “Strip distant the negotiated language, and the meaning is clear enough: Russia nary longer runs its ain subject bases successful Syria,” wrote John Dobson. “It will clasp a beingness successful immoderate repurposed and jointly managed form, but the era of Moscow operating Tartus and Hmeimim arsenic autonomous Russian subject outposts is over.”
Russia antecedently enjoyed unrestricted entree to these strategical bases erstwhile Assad ruled complete the country. The Syrian dictator gave Moscow unprecedented concessions successful the shape of a 49-year lease successful the precocious 2010s. The Russian subject helped prop up his sadistic authorities during the bloody Syrian civilian war, successful which it straight intervened successful September 2015. Hmeimin served arsenic a hub for Syrian warplanes that many times bombed anti-Assad guidance groups, sidesplitting respective civilians and destroying ample parts of Syria’s infrastructure, including hospitals and aesculapian facilities, successful the process. Tartus served arsenic a logistical hub for Russian warships operating successful the Mediterranean Sea. Beyond giving Russia a foothold and a warm-water port, these bases were besides captious for sustaining and resupplying its subject and paramilitary operations successful Africa.
That privileged position looked successful jeopardy arsenic Assad’s enemy, Ahmed al-Sharaa, spearheaded a lightning violative successful precocious November 2024, culminating successful the seizure of Damascus by December 8. Assad fled to his caller life successful ignominious exile successful Moscow, evacuated via level from Hmeimim. Russia quickly went from bombing Sharaa’s forces erstwhile he led the equipped Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to embracing him arsenic Assad’s successor. It withdrew astir of its strategical weapons, including its long-range S-400 rocket systems, from the bases soon thereafter but pursued negotiations pinch Sharaa’s caller authorities complete their early status, hoping to sphere immoderate foothold. By early 2025, Hmeimim and Tartus were a protector of their erstwhile selves. Russia’s remaining troops successful Syria recovered themselves astatine the whim of the caller authorities successful Damascus for entree and moreover information fixed the precarious and “basically defenseless” position they now recovered themselves successful the caller post-Assad Syria. Still, they retained them, moreover during the sectarian violence that terrorized the coastal region astir them that March, leaving thousands of Alawites dormant successful its wake.
Moscow and Damascus spent months negotiating the early position of Hmeimim and Tartus. In October 2025, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that they could service arsenic “humanitarian hubs for sending humanitarian cargoes” to Africa, wherever Russia still has strategical interests. The pursuing June, Russia revealed it was successful talks complete a “possible reformatting” of the bases. That came soon aft Moscow made its first resupply run via vessel to Tartus since Assad’s departure. Then connected August 9, the memorandum of knowing yet wished their post-Assad fate. It arguably could person been worse, pinch Syria’s caller rulers deciding to expel the Russians altogether successful revenge for each of their comrades and civilians Russian warplanes killed complete those 9 years from September 2015 until December 2024. In the end, they chose a much pragmatic solution, cognizant that cooperating pinch Russia has benefits and that the post-Assad play and Moscow’s weakened position since invading Ukraine presented the opportunity for a much equal, pragmatic partnership.
While Russia established Hmeimim by converting a civilian airdrome for its involution successful Syria 11 years ago, its usage of Tartus dates backmost overmuch further to 1971, erstwhile Moscow established a naval support installation location done the 1971 Soviet-Syrian lease agreement. Moscow mislaid entree to Egypt’s Alexandria, Mersa Matruh, and Port Said during that decade, making Tartus basal for sustaining and supporting Soviet naval operations successful the Mediterranean. It moved its fleet repair and support instrumentality from Alexandria to Tartus. As early arsenic 1976, the CIA observed issues successful Soviet-Syrian relations, including “Syrian guidance to Soviet attempts to get greater usage of Syrian larboard facilities.”
The 1980s marked the peak of Soviet arms income and subject assistance to Damascus, which Moscow had agelong provided generously successful return for entree to Tartus.
In 1988, Reagan management officials claimed that the Soviet Union was expanding Tartus arsenic a hub to support its Mediterranean fleet. In a study to Congress, past head of the National Security Agency, Rear Admiral William Studeman, noted that reliable entree to Tartus would “obviate the necessity of predominant naval transit to location ports successful the Black Sea” for Moscow. “It would licence longer deployments and an wide accrued Soviet beingness successful an area of sizeable political-military volatility,” he said. Interestingly, he besides noted “speculation that the Soviet-Syrian statement will supply for Soviet sovereignty complete the facility,” and assessed that “it is highly improbable that Syria would aliases could make specified concessions to immoderate overseas power.”
A peculiar incident successful April 1989 saw 2 Syrian helicopters firing astatine Soviet vessels 35 miles disconnected Tartus, sidesplitting and injuring a mini number of their crew. Pilot correction was blamed. Damascus apologized.
The pursuing year, aft Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait and sparked a situation successful the Persian Gulf, location was a reported flurry of Soviet naval activity successful Tartus. It reportedly coincided pinch a concealed statement pinch Damascus to move portion of Tartus into a Soviet naval guidelines “off limits to Syrians.” However, Tartus was not astir to go a main hub for an expanded Soviet naval beingness successful the Mediterranean. The Soviet Union collapsed successful December 1991, and its successor, the Russian Federation, didn’t usage Tartus for galore years.
The 720th Logistics Support Point for Russia’s Black Sea fleet remained disused until the mid-2000s, erstwhile Moscow signaled it sought to reestablish a imperishable naval beingness successful the Mediterranean, raising eyebrows successful the U.S. and Israel. “By raising Syria’s banal successful the region, analysts opportunity specified a move could further complicate occidental attempts to execute settlements successful Lebanon and Palestine,” noted a 2007 analysis successful The Guardian. “Defensive rocket and surveillance systems astir immoderate Russian installations mightiness besides displacement the subject equilibrium to Israel’s disadvantage.”
By 2010, Russia had conscionable 2 bases abroad: 1 successful Ukraine’s Sevastopol connected the Black Sea, and, of course, Tartus, which remained the only guidelines extracurricular the territories of the erstwhile Soviet Union. In January 2010, Moscow said it aimed to modernize Tartus accommodation by 2011. The Arab Spring of that twelvemonth reached Syria, and Bashar al-Assad cracked down violently connected serene demonstrators. Syria descended into a convulsive civilian warfare by 2012. That aforesaid year, Russia dispatched 2 amphibious battle ships to Tartus successful a move interpreted by analysts astatine the clip arsenic a “display of power.” While Russia wouldn’t militarily intervene successful the civilian warfare for different 3 years, it nevertheless wanted to debar the embarrassment of the installation being overrun by the anti-Assad opposition.
After it did intervene successful 2015, deploying precocious combatant jets and S-400 aerial defenses, an embattled Bashar al-Assad recovered his authorities overmuch much beholden and limited connected Moscow than it ever was nether his begetter Hafez al-Assad. He gave galore much concessions complete Tartus and Hmeimim, exemplified by the generous 49-year lease, pinch optional 25-year extensions, granted successful 2017 and ineligible immunities for Russian personnel, who had bombed countless hospitals crossed the country. The statement besides permitted Russia to dredge Tartus and instal floating berths to support larger warships, including nuclear-powered ones. These upgrades could 1 time let the larboard to big up to 11 Russian naval vessels. Russian subject expert Igor Korotchenko outlined the strategical imaginable of an expanded guidelines there. “If our caller combat aboveground ships and submarines outfitted pinch Kalibr cruise missiles are based successful Tartus, this will let Moscow to support the business successful the Middle East and Mediterranean nether control,” he told Russia’s state-run Sputnik News.
Russia besides wanted to separate the Hmeimim airbase from the adjacent civilian Bassel Al-Assad International Airport since it planned to enactment for years to come. Furthermore, successful 2020, Putin signed a directive for “negotiations pinch Syria connected transferring much existent property and h2o territory to the Russian military’s possession.”
In the end, these expansive plans amounted to little. Russia’s fateful 2022 full-scale penetration of Ukraine saw it tie down subject resources, including from Syria, for that depleting warfare effort. It ne'er sewage its half-century calling the shots successful those Syrian bases, pinch Assad’s victorious successors refusing to abide by the extended concessions the deposed dictator had granted his Russian patron.
Tartus and the newer Hmeimim yet ne'er realized the afloat strategical imaginable Moscow not agelong agone envisaged for them. And they ne'er will.
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