STORY SUMMARY

by Thomas Grove The Daily Star, Lebanon

Two Russian ships heading for a naval exercise off Syria this month are picking up munitions to drop at the Syrian port of Tartous, news agencies reported on Thursday.

A Russian General Staff source told the Itar-Tass news agency that the landing ship Kaliningrad had docked at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk to pick up munitions and another landing ship, the Alexander Shabalin, was due there for the same purpose.

Itar-Tass cited an unnamed military source as saying that the warships would join at least seven others off Syria for what the Defence Ministry has said will be Russia’s biggest naval exercise in decades.

A source close to Rosoboronexport, Russia’s arms export monopoly, said Russia had signed no new contracts with Syria in 2012, but Moscow has defended its fulfiment of existing contracts.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jan-17/202673-russian-ships-to-pick-up-munitions-and-head-to-syria.ashx#ixzz2IGG7lzCx
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)