Russian convoy from Sevastopol -the largest Russian port of the Black Sea-, loaded with Marines, GRU units, tanks and artillery, as well as auxiliary LANDING vessels, earlier in the day passed the Straits of Hellespont and is currently near the island of Tenedos with the final destination being Syria.. The Russian flotilla would be discreetly monitored by a Greek warship. The fleet is expected to travel down to the south Aegean by the end of today, and be somewhere near Karpathos and/or Rhodes by Wednesday morning. An American and a Turkish submarine is also in the area.
The ships are transporting some of the most skilled Russian military officials from the 431 Battalion VMF (some units of which have already been in Syria since February, 2012), the 76th Airborne Division «Pskov», the 15th Brigade, units of the GRU from the Caucasus -specialized to deal with Islamic terrorists- and it is also transporting marines from the Russian army stationed in the Black Sea.
The 431 Battalion unit is distinguished both for its expert operational methods, as well as for its no mercy ideology. In fact this coldness was displayed in conflicts both in Chechnya and Dagestan when these soldiers became known as the unit that never took any prisoners.
They are being transported by the LANDING ships Nikolaï Filtchenkov and César Kounikov class Alligator, and are also being accompanied by two smaller ships. The ships can transport 4700 tons and can carry between 300-425 men.
Quoting Russian sources, a report on the Greek military site defencenet noted that this is an extraordinary mission that aims to secure the Russian citizens that are currently in Syria as well as to remove Russian "equipment" which is currently at the Tartus port. The mission is also another move by Russia to show its support to Syria and to the Assad administration which is currently fighting against rebel strongholds across the country.
Russia has already sent special operation units to Syria to protect its naval base which is found in Tartus, and which is the only Russian naval base in the entire Mediterranean. Russia has also sent technologies and air defense systems S-300PMU2, an onshore missile battery P-800 Yakhont and Pantsir S1 but it looks like this will not suffice, since things are becoming very severe. That is why it is now moving TOMA and TOMB as well as SHORADS and portable anti-tank weapons to the area.
The conclusion - It is clear that "Russia is heading for war." The situation is more than critical, since this is the first major combat mission by Russia since the Cold War.
May God have mercy on all of us. - source in Greek
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.ca/2012/07/world-holds-its-breath-russian-warships.html
