Syrian Civil War Developments

[Minskaya]

But, as usual for this war, it has nothing to do with reality. PsyOps.

I have translated this from the Russian news agency Interfax...

December 24, 2012 (Interfax)
Moscow - Russian amphibious ships Azov and Nicholas Filchenkov have been directed to the Syrian port of Tartus from Novorossiysk. There are Special Forces soldiers from the Marines and combat equipment on board according to sources from the General Staff of the Russian Army. In the event of an escalation of the conflict in Syria, ships of the Russian Navy have to secure the evacuation of Russian citizens from the Middle Eastern country. Earlier, spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Lukashevich said he has a plan for the evacuation of Russian citizens in Syria, but has not yet decided on its implementation. The plan was developed by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Russia.

[NUS]

I have translated this from the Russian news agency Interfax...

Trust me, Interfax is as bad as any other news source on this matter.

Do you really belive that a handful of warships can "remove all Russian civilians in Syria"? (30 000!)

And EmerCom has plans for everything. It's their job.

Every military Russian warship in the area immediatly becomes rescue vessel or weapon transport in the eyes of massmedia.

[Minskaya]

Trust me, Interfax is as bad as any other news source on this matter. Do you really belive that a handful of warships can "remove all Russian civilians in Syria"? (30 000!) And EmerCom has plans for everything. It's their job.

The Russian embassy in Damascus can only account for ~9,000 of the Russians in Syria. I would imagine that the diplomatic corps and critical military personnel will certainly be pulled if conditions continue to deteriorate. They also need to do something (secure/evacuate) with the naval base at Tartus. EU News has also verified that the Russian ships are in transit.

[NUS]

The Russian embassy in Damascus can only account for ~9,000 of the Russians in Syria. I would imagine that the diplomatic corps and critical military personnel will certainly be pulled if conditions continue to deteriorate. They also need to do something (secure/evacuate) with the naval base at Tartus. EU News has also verified that the Russian ships are in transit.

Nobody said ships are not coming to the area. Spokesman of Russian General Staff told to RIA that they are going there for drill.

To exepct several warships to evacuate even 9000 is unrealistic anyway. Warships are not cruise liners.

[Minskaya]

To exepct several warships to evacuate even 9000 is unrealistic anyway. Warships are not cruise liners.

I’m Israeli. This is their problem. I don’t really care what the Russians do, nor how they do it, as long as it all stays on the Syrian side of the border.

[NUS]

This post was a bad joke, so i deleted it. Mods can remove it.

[Bigfella]

Imagine how a Syrian Army junior officer, N.C.O. or soldier feels with these rumors?

To be fair, they probably have a good idea that things are going badly. They would be hearing talk about major bases in the north falling, the failure to re-take Aleppo & the presence of rebel forces so close to Damascus. They can probably ad 2 + 2. This would simply be more bad news - perhaps an indication that any hope Russia can bail them out is slipping away. Not a happy time to be in that army I'm afraid.

[Bigfella]

Thats the only reason why this news appear again and again from time to time. But, as usual for this war, it has nothing to do with reality. PsyOps.

Interfax is conducting Psyops against the Syrian regime. Gotcha.

To exepct several warships to evacuate even 9000 is unrealistic anyway. Warships are not cruise liners

No, they are not. They don't have to keep people in especially pleasant conditions for long periods of time. They can cruise faster because passenger comfort is not an issue. They only have to shuttle back & forth between Cyprus & Syria. Even cruise ships do this in less than 12 hours 1 way. In any case, I'm assuming evacuation by ship is only part of the plan.

[Doktor]

Airbridge comes to mind... 30 planes, problem solved.

[NUS]

Interfax is conducting Psyops against the Syrian regime. Gotcha.

Spokesman of Russian General Staff : "Ships are going into sea for drill"

Interfax : "Ships can be used for rescue if necessary" (no quote from spokesmen about it)

Minskaya and Al-jazeera: "Russians are evacuating civilians!!! Assad's regime is about to fall apart!!!"

[Officer of Engineers]

Spokesman of Russian General Staff : "Ships are going into sea for drill"

Interfax : "Ships can be used for rescue if necessary" (no quote from spokesmen about it)

Minskaya and Al-jazeera: "Russians are evacuating civilians!!! Assad's regime is about to fall apart!!!"

Right

Moscow - Russian amphibious ships Azov and Nicholas Filchenkov have been directed to the Syrian port of Tartus from Novorossiysk. There are Special Forces soldiers from the Marines and combat equipment on board according to sources from the General Staff of the Russian Army.

SF troops going to a war zone for a drill.

[NUS]

Right

SF troops going to a war zone for a drill.

There are no SF on the board on those ships. Russian DoD deputy minister has already called those reports "nonsense".
Lenta.ru:


You on a West dont know the art on news reading. All news we read is a mix of truth, direct lies, misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

And this does not depend on a newssource.

[Officer of Engineers]

Really?

Russian Military Denies Sending Commandos to Syria

Moscow, Dec 25 (IANS/RIA Novosti): The Russian defence ministry has denied media reports about Moscow sending commando units, air defence systems operators and military equipment to Syria.

"No decisions to send commandos on board Russian warships (to Syria) have been made," Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said.

"It's all nonsense, and media speculation," Antonov said.

On Monday, large landing ships Azov and Nikolai Filchenkov from Russia's Black Sea Fleet departed from Novorossiysk to the Syrian port of Tartus, where the Russian Navy keeps a small maintenance base.

The ships are carrying naval infantry units for protection during the voyage.

[NUS]

Really?

In case you dont know, there is differcence between naval infantry units and specnaz. Naval infantry units are always on board of ships like Azov. There is no point in those ships without them. And yes, they are there for drills, like they always do.

[Officer of Engineers]

I know who the Naval Infantry are. They are a cut above the regular army recruits. They can and do ship assaults, amphibious assaults, and evacuation. The regular Russian soldier has no such training. The Naval Infantry is on par with the Air Assault units.

And this is precisely the same type of task force that was readied in June that never set sailed for Syria.

At the very least, Russia is re-enforcing Tartus.