Russia sends jets to Syria for massive naval drills in Mediterranean

The Russian military sent long-range nuclear-capable bombers and fighter jets carrying cutting-edge hypersonic missiles to its air base in Syria on Tuesday for large naval drills in the region, amid rising tensions with the West over Ukraine.

Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s Defense Minister, arrived in Syria to oversee the drills, which mark the largest Russian naval deployment to the Mediterranean Sea since the Cold War. On Tuesday, Shoigu met with Syrian President Bashar Assad to brief him on the drills and discuss future military-technical cooperation.

The exercise in the eastern Mediterranean, which comprises 15 vessels and roughly 30 planes, is part of a series of large-scale naval drills that began last month amid a stalemate over Ukraine, according to the Defense Ministry. The drills were designed to “defend national interests” and “fend off military threats against the Russian Federation,” according to the statement.

As part of the rehearsals, long-range nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bombers and MiG-31 fighter fighters carrying the latest Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missiles landed at the Russian air base of Hemeimeem in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia. The Kinzhal, according to the military, has a range of up to 2,000 kilometres (approximately 1,250 miles) and travels at 10 times the speed of sound, making it difficult to intercept.

The deployment of Kinzhal missiles to Syria appears to be aimed at demonstrating Russia’s military’s ability to attack the US carrier strike group in the Mediterranean.

According to the Defense Ministry, the Russian navy leader informed Shoigu that the manoeuvres would include practising targeting enemy warships.

The Hemeimeem air station has acted as Russia’s main stronghold in Syria, where it has fought a military operation since September 2015, allowing Assad’s government to retake control of the majority of the nation following a catastrophic civil war.

Russia has also enlarged and modified a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, the country’s only such facility outside the former Soviet Union.