Russian Admiral Grigorovich frigate leaving the Black Sea on April 7, 2017 following US Tomahawk strikes in Syria. Photo by Alper Böler used with permission
The Russian Navy has sent its most advanced Black Sea frigate into the Eastern Mediterranean on Friday following a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airfield, according to ship spotters in Turkey. Read More
This post has been updated to include additional information and will continue to be updated as new details become available.
Two U.S. guided-missile destroyers fired 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in a series of strikes on a Syrian airfield believed to be the origin point of a chemical weapons strike in the northern part of the country, several military officials told USNI News on Thursday night. Read More
Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser makes port call in Tartus, Syria. Sputnik Photo
Russia will start construction on a planned five-year expansion of its naval base in Syria this spring, officials said in Russian state media. Read More
Pyotr Veliky missile cruiser makes port call in Tartus, Syria. Sputnik Photo
Russia and Syria have signed an agreement this week to expand Russia’s sole foreign base – a naval repair facility in Syria – into a larger naval base capable of permanently hosting 11 ships, according to the agreement issued by the Russian government. Read More
Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright speaking Wednesday at The Atlantic Council. Atlantic Council Photo
A former U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor have crafted an outline for a proposed U.S. Middle East strategy that puts the onus of peace and stability in the region while keeping U.S. military intervention to a minimum. Read More
Russian Navy cruiser Peter the Great
The Russian carrier group bound for the Eastern Mediterranean and likely operations near Syria is back on the move, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday. Read More
A Russian strike aircraft operating over Syria. Russian Defense Ministry Photo
On Monday — less than half a year after Russia announced its intervention in Syria — President Vladimir Putin stated that beginning Tuesday, Russia would begin withdrawing “the main part” of its air forces from the country’s civil war. Read More
Russian fighters operating from Syria. TASS Photo
Russia is set to start withdrawing troops from Syria as early as Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. Read More
Bashar-Al-Assad
The path the United States has been on since 2011 to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad immediately from power is not working, but “tamping down the [civil] war” while working for a longer-range transitional government is no guarantee that such a shift in emphasis would led to the defeat of the Sunni-dominated Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Read More
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, foreground, and Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify before the House Armed Services Committee about U.S. strategy for Syria and Iraq in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 1, 2015. DoD Photo
In discussing the administration’s strategy to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday told the House Armed Services Committee “the enemy doesn’t respect borders and neither do we.” Read More
