Intel: Why Moscow is dispatching its military to fight coronavirus in Syria, Italy
On March 25, the first Russian navy cargo ship transited Turkey’s Bosporus strait en route to Syria. The ship was reportedly carrying three ambulances and a shipping container on its deck — equipment to be used to help fight the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Syria.
On March 25, the first Russian navy cargo ship transited Turkey’s Bosporus strait en route to Syria. The ship was reported to be carrying three ambulances and a shipping container on its deck believed to contain equipment to be used to help fight the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Syria.
Syria, a country with a health system wrecked by years of conflict, reported its first case of coronavirus March 22. It reported four new cases on March 25 to bring the total to five.
Why it matters: The dispatch of the Russian cargo ship to Syria comes the day after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was hosted by President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. As Al-Monitor reported March 24, the situation involving the coronavirus in Syria has raised concerns in Russia., and Moscow wants to help out.
Earlier, the recently appointed Iranian ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, said Russia had made “a friendly move” toward the Islamic Republic by sending up to 500 testing systems used to identify COVID-19.
