In March 2024, Ukrainian naval drones forced the russian federation to halt arms shipments by sea from Novorossiysk to Syria due to the increasing threat these drones posed.
By mid-March 2024, russia had already ceased risking weapon transport through the Black Sea, opting instead to reroute shipments via the Atlantic Ocean. According to the ItaMilRadar platform, russian Sparta IV and Ursa Major cargo vessels, operated by the Ministry of Defense’s Oboronlogistics company, began departing from Baltic Sea ports instead of Novorossiysk.
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These voyages to Syria’s Tartus port occurred under the escort of the Admiral Grigorovich frigate from russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
This rerouting extended the delivery distance for arms shipments from 2,500 kilometers to 9,000 kilometers—an increase of 3.6 times. Notably, the shift to the Baltic Sea ports occurred specifically in March 2024. Prior to this, in February 2024, Sparta IV was still operating between Novorossiysk and Tartus, alongside other vessels like Yaz, Lady Mariia, and Baltic Leader, as confirmed by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR).
Adding a peculiar aspect to the situation is the fact that during 2022–2023, the Syrian Express operated not only for inbound shipments but also for outbound shipments. In other words, russia was even removing certain weapon systems from Syria that were deemed important.
For instance, in 2023, Sparta IV completed six voyages from Syria to Novorossiysk, where military equipment was unloaded. However, in July 2023, Sparta IV also transported M-46 or D-30 artillery systems from Novorossiysk to Syria.
It is also noteworthy that, according to information on the GUR website, vessels from the fleet of the Oboronlogistics company, Ursa Major and Sparta II, are currently engaged in regular cargo shipments between Baltic Sea ports, while Sparta IV is likely involved in transporting supplies necessary for the development of deposits in northern russia.
Against this backdrop, the prospects for the Kremlin to organize a new Syrian Express appear to be highly compromised at the moment.
Earlier, Defense Express reported on the types of weapons abandoned on the battlefield in Syria, which include some interesting samples of russian and Iranian production.
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