Russia's Warships Pass Through Bosphorus Amid Syria Tensions
The Admiral Makarov frigate (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / archive)
Click to read the article in Turkish
Russia's Black Sea fleet has dispatched two warships to the Mediterranean Sea, the Russian Navy has announced.
The frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Grigorovich today (February 28) passed though İstanbul's Bosphorus strait. Both ships are equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles, the Moscow times reported, citing the Russian Navy.
A third frigate, the Admiral Essen, has been in the Mediterranean since December 2019, said Alexe Rulev, the spokesperson of Russia's naval force.
The move came after yesterday's airstrike on Turkey's soldiers in Idlib, northwestern Syria. Thirty-three soldiers were killed and 32 were wounded in the attack by Syria's government forces.
CLICK - Russia Says It Didn't Carry Out the Airstrike on Turkey's Soldiers
Photos posted on social media show two frigates making their way through the Bosphorus.
— Rasan Remzi (@RasanRemzi) February 28, 2020
Two Russian warships sent from #Russia to #Syria passed through the Bosphorus , #Istanbul. pic.twitter.com/NrE0li6TiR
Russia's navy did not specify the exact location the ships are heading to. Russia operates the Khmeimim Airbase in Syria's Latakia on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
According to the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, warships belonging to the Black Sea states can pass through the İstanbul and Çanakkale Straits in peacetime. However, it authorizes Turkey to close the Straits to all foreign warships in wartime or when it was threatened by aggression.
During the course of the war in Syria, Russia used its warships on the Mediterranean Sea and on the Caspian Sea to fire cruise missiles at ISIS. (PT/VK)