Ships entered our harbor...

For several days now, fans of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria have been in high spirits. The reason for the euphoria was the report of the Syrian newspaper Al Watan, picked up by the Lebanese newspaper Al Binaa: allegedly on November 17, and according to other sources on the 21st, three ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet entered the territorial waters of Syria and stood on the roadstead of the port of the city of Tartus. Since 1971, the Russian naval base has been located here - the only one in the Mediterranean Sea, and now, perhaps, in all the far abroad.
Day by day, the rumors are becoming more exotic: the ships allegedly arrived with nuclear warheads and a pair of S-300 missile systems on board; the first - to protect Syria from the intrigues of imperialism, the second - in case NATO launches an operation according to the Libyan scenario. According to other sources, two of the three ships are designed for reconnaissance and information gathering, another one is a transport for the supply of weapons. If all these are real facts, then the visit of Russian ships can be safely interpreted as a response to gunboat diplomacy - the so-called "gunboat diplomacy" in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. Russian ships off the Syrian coast are Moscow's reaction to the passage of the US Navy aircraft carriers George Bush and John C. Stennis through the Strait of Hormuz to the coast of Iran, and at the same time closer to Syria.
However, according to the correspondent of the Al-Arabiya TV channel, Mazin Abass, the information about the Russian squadron is most likely a cunning game by the Syrian authorities, who organized the first “leak” to the controlled newspaper Al Watan. In any case, according to a member of the Committee for the Unity of the Syrian Opposition, political scientist Salah Badeudin, "Russian ships are not a strategic factor in the Syrian scenario." Will Moscow agree with this message? „

Russian warships off the Syrian coast are Moscow's reaction to the passage of the American aircraft carriers George Bush and John C. Stennis through the Strait of Hormuz to the coast of Iran

“Russia's position on the Syrian issue can be seen as a desire to return to the region as a key player. It is no coincidence that Moscow, for the first time since 1993, exercised its right of veto in the UN to save the Syrian regime, blocking in early October a Security Council resolution threatening sanctions against the Syrian authorities. And she did this not out of love for Bashar al-Assad, but out of those considerations that he is still the least of all possible evils from the point of view of Russian interests. It's not just about the economy. Moscow is not happy to see Turkey's growing influence in the Middle East, North Africa, and the South Caucasus. She sees how active Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, who is at the forefront of detractors of the Assad regime, has been lately in the diplomatic field. Moscow proceeds from the fact that the overthrow of this regime will entail the loss of Syria as an ally and the country's withdrawal into the American and Turkish fold. The task of the Syrian opposition is to dispel these doubts, which is what the head of the Syrian National Council, Dr. Burhan Galiun, tried to do during his recent visit to Moscow. “The center for resolving the “Syrian issue” has moved from Washington to Moscow,” he said in the Russian capital. Russia will provide invaluable assistance to the people of Syria by supporting the transfer of power, Galyun told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. This, according to Galiun, will stop the bloodshed, help free the prisoners and return the tanks to the barracks.
However, Moscow continues to ponder the geopolitical chessboard. This is her right. But it is extremely depressing that Russia is already beginning to lose the sympathy of the people of Syria, who were previously very loyal to her. The Syrians are perplexed how a European country can support a regime that has killed, according to official UN data, 3,500, and according to unofficial data, more than 10,000 people. Time plays against those who think too long.