Weapons from Russia’s Syria base transported through English Channel

Russian navy escorted sanctioned cargo ship carrying military hardware from Syria, suspected of being bound for the front line in Ukraine

HMS Somerset following Russian corvette Boikiy during a three-day operation monitoring the progress of a Russian task group. Royal Navy / PA

A cargo ship under sanction is being used to carry military hardware from a naval base in Syria through the Mediterranean and the English Channel to Russian ports, it has been claimed.

Photographs show the Baltic Leader – which has been sanctioned by the US for transporting weapons on behalf of the Russian military – being escorted by a Russian warship, the Boikiy, suggesting the cargo was important for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

The UK Royal Navy confirmed that frigate HMS Somerset followed the ships for three days. The UK has warned of the number of Russian warships passing through the Channel and routinely monitors them.

A Royal Navy spokesman said: “The British Type 23 frigate utilised its powerful sensors and radars to report on Russian movements, launching her Merlin helicopter from 814 Naval Air Squadron to gather valuable information from the sky. The ship worked hand-in-hand with UK patrol aircraft and allied Nato forces during the operation, providing constant watch on the task group.”

The spokesman said the operation began on March 1 as the Russian warship headed south through the North Sea and English Channel to meet Baltic Leader to escort the vessel back to Russia.

HMS Somerset then shadowed the Boikiy for the return journey after the vessel met Baltic Leader at Ushant, an island off the coast of France.

Cmdr Joel Roberts, commanding officer of HMS Somerset, said: “Somerset is well versed in the escort of Russian ships, having conducted these operations on a number of occasions. Great professionalism has been shown by the ship’s company to remain vigilant whilst operating in UK waters and integrating with our Nato allies to monitor Russian activity around Europe.”

The Plymouth-based warship was previously deployed alongside patrol ship HMS Tyne to track suspected Russian spy vessel Yantar in January.

The operation comes two weeks after HMS Iron Duke, HMS Tyne and RFA Tideforce monitored five ships, including three merchant vessels, as they sailed from Syria to a Russian Baltic port.

Royal Navy frigate HMS Somerset, rear, follows Russian corvette Boikiy through the English Channel. Royal Navy / PA

Russia has been operating regular shipments from its Syrian naval base at Tartus – where it is winding down operations in the wake of the overthrow of Bashar Al Assad – so weapons can be shifted to the front line in the Ukraine war.

The Times, which photographed the ships in the Channel, also cited satellite images taken on February 1 featuring Baltic Leader being loaded in Tartus, near military hardware, but was unable to verify what was put on to the ship.

“Since mid-February we have seen a number of Russian-flagged cargo vessels sail from Syria into the Mediterranean and through the English Channel,” Joseph Byrne, senior analyst at the Open Source Centre, told The Times.

He said they switch off their transponders while in Syrian waters to avoid detection. They are permitted to sail through the territorial waters of another country under international maritime law.

The ships are compelled to take the indirect route due to the threat of an attack by Ukraine if they were used the shorter route through the Black Sea.

In December, a Russian cargo ship sank in the Mediterranean. And the Ursa Major ran into trouble on Monday, then sank between Spain and Algeria, with 14 of its 16 crew taking to a lifeboat. Three explosions tore through the vessel, breaching the hull in what the ship's owner, Russian defence logistics company Oboronlogistika, called "an act of terrorism".

In January, the UK warned that a Russian spy ship, Yantar, had been tracked in the English Channel by a Royal Navy warship, a few weeks after it was caught “loitering over critical undersea infrastructure in UK waters”.

The UK has activated Nordic Warden – a new advanced AI system to help monitor the Russian shadow fleet and safeguard undersea infrastructure. It monitors vessels known to be part of President Vladimir Putin’s fleet used to attempt to bypass international sanctions by moving Russian oil and gas to potential buyers.

Satellite imagery taken in December showed Russia had started pulling its forces from its naval base in Syria almost as soon as the Assad regime fell.

Satellite images released in December show (top) the Russian naval base at Tartus in western Syria on December 5 and (bottom) the same location after ships departed on December 10. Maxar Technologies

One image released by US company Maxar Technologies showed the Tartus base without ships, while another, taken on December 9 by California-based Planet Labs, showed at least three vessels in Russia’s Mediterranean fleet, including two guided-missile frigates and an oiler, moored about 13km north-west of Tartus. The rest of the fleet could not be immediately located in satellite imagery.

The Kremlin said at the time it was in contact with the new Syrian leadership over the status of its bases in the country.

The Russian navy has maintained its base there since 1971 but it was rarely used in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2012, usage has increased again and it became Russia’s main overseas naval base, according to Naval News, a defence and technology website.

Previously, Russia had five surface ships and one submarine at Tartus, according to analysis of satellite imagery by BlackSky and Planet Labs.