Russia Resupplies Its Air Base in Syria

“Russia sent a cargo ship to resupply its air base in Syria, a signal the Kremlin intends to maintain the strategically important military foothold under the country's new rulers, according to U.S. officials and satellite images reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

 

The cargo ship Sparta left St. Petersburg in March and arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus in May, after being escorted for much of its journey by Russian navy ships, according to the satellite images and U.S. officials tracking the vessels supply mission since the fall of the Assad regime, a Russian ally, in late 2024.

 

The Sparta -- whose owner is under U.S. sanctions for delivering weapons on behalf of Moscow -- was carrying equipment for a nearby Russian air base at Khmeimim, said some of the U.S. officials.

 

The resupply operation is an indication Russia has retained use of the base despite the Assad regime's overthrow by Islamist rebels who now govern the country -- a concern for some U.S. government officials who had hoped the Syrian revolution's success a year and a half ago would have dealt Russia a strategic setback, depriving it of an important way station for operations in Africa and South America.

 

"I think the Russians basically succeeded in keeping the bases," said Aron Lund, a Syria expert at the Swedish Defense Research Agency. "They have used carrot and stick, but I think mostly carrot, to persuade the Syrians that they can serve a useful function for them and they have something to gain from each other."

 

The U.S. military, meanwhile, withdrew from its bases in Syria earlier this year, ending a more than decadelong commitment to the country that began as a mission to fight Islamic State extremists.

 

A Syrian government spokesman didn't respond to a request to comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Central Command declined to comment on the Sparta's location or its cargo. The Russian Defense Ministry didn't respond to a request for comment.

 

The air base and the Tartus naval base are critical components of Russia's global military footprint. The Russian government and armed forces have used them as jumping-off points for operations farther afield and for military access to the Mediterranean.

 

Retaining them became a priority after Bashar al-Assad was toppled. Moscow was starting in a hole. It used the air base beginning a decade ago to launch a bombing campaign against the Assad regime's enemies that left thousands dead during Syria's long civil war.

 

The country's new government, led by Islamist former rebels, long opposed Assad and Russia's intervention. Russia withdrew its navy from Tartus in 2025 and pulled many of its forces from the country after the regime fell.

 

But new Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa, the former leader of a rebel faction that fought Assad and the Russians, continued to negotiate with Moscow over the fate of the bases. Sharaa has cultivated relations with Russia as well as the West since taking power, visiting Washington and Moscow last year as a part of a campaign to gain international acceptance for his government.

 

Russia for its part has sold Syria wheat and oil, likely at advantageous rates, offering a lifeline to a Syrian economy that is still struggling after years of sanctions and war.

 

Russia and Syria have a mutual interest in keeping an eye on security threats from each others' countries. Assad, along with his family and many regime loyalists, are in exile in Russia, while many Chechen and other fighters from former Soviet areas of control reside in Syria after having joined militant groups in the Mideast. Russia also could offer Sharaa a potential hedge against the U.S., whose support under President Trump can't be taken for granted, Lund said.

 

Hundreds of Russian personnel remain in Syria, according to one of the officials familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments.

 

Last month's resupply run showed a deepening Russian hold on the air base. The cargo ship Sparta is under Treasury Department sanctions, as is its owner, SC South LLC, and its parent company Oboronlogistics LLC, which says its primary business is logistics for the Russian Defense Ministry. The company didn't respond to a request for comment.

 

Some U.S. officials said the resupply mission didn't raise alarm bells, because Syria's ties with Moscow are known and the military equipment is far from U.S. interests.

 

After the fall of Assad, former President Joe Biden conditioned the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria on the removal of Russian bases from the country. The Trump administration backed away from that, and Trump ordered an unconditional lifting of sanctions.” [1]

 

1. World News: Russia Resupplies Its Air Base in Syria. Malsin, Jared; Seligman, Lara.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 02 June 2026: A6.