Warships from Northern Fleet take center stage in Russian show of support for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad

Two frigates that normally are based in the far northern Kola Peninsula this week fired hypersonic Tsirkon missiles in the east Mediterranean as part of a Russian exercise. The training takes place as pressure mounts on the Syrian leader and his Russian patrons.

The Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Golovko played key roles in the exercise that on the 3 December was held in the waters off the coast of Syrian port city Tartus. The two frigates from the Northern Fleet both fired Tsirkon missiles, while submarine Novorossiisk fired Kalibr, and a Bastion coastal battery fired an Oniks cruise missile. The target was an abandoned barge located somewhere in the east Mediterranean, a promo video from the Russian Navy shows. The exercise was led by Aleksandr Moiseev, Head Commander of the Russian Navy. According to the Russian Armed Forces, as many as 1,000 troops, ten ships and 24 aircraft, including MiG-31I fighter jets armed with Kinzhal missiles, were involved in the training.

The Admiral Gorshkov and Admiral Golovko are among Russia's newest and most modern naval vessels. They are normally based in Severomorsk, the Northern Fleet headquarter city in the Kola Peninsula. The exercise comes as Bashar al-Assad and his Russian patrons are under mounting pressure from the opposition forces that recently captured Syria's second biggest city Aleppo. The offensive of the opposition forces could ultimately threaten Tartus, the seaport and logistics hub controlled by Putin's forces. This week's military training and extensive missile shooting in the eastern Mediterranean took place in the immediate vicinity of neighbouring countries, among them Turkey and Cyprus.