Russian ships have not left the base in Tartus after the surprise jihadist offensive against the Syrian government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Rumors circulating in the media could be based on incorrect assumptions due to exercises taking place in the Mediterranean, he added.
“Military exercises are being conducted in the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps the satellite images were mistaken for something else,” Lavrov said on Sunday after meeting with the Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers in Qatar.
The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Iran, and Russia met in Doha on Saturday to discuss the lightning rebel advance in Syria.
Moscow intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2015, helping government forces inflict defeats on a number of terrorist groups, including Al-Nusra and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). Russia maintains a significant military presence in the country and has bases in Khmeimim and Tartus.
The military exercises in question were held earlier this month. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that they would involve the navy and air force and would take place December 1-3.
The militant group Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of Jabhat al-Nusra, along with its allies, launched a surprise offensive against Syrian government forces last week, swiftly driving the Syrian Army from Aleppo and entering the cities of Hama and Homs on the road south to Damascus. The Syrian military redeployed forces to threatened regions with the support of Russian warplanes.
According to AP, terrorist elements apparently broke through these lines and reached the outskirts of Damascus on Saturday, marking the first time since 2015 that jihadists have encroached on the capital.
President Bashar Assad has vowed to “eliminate” the terrorists who attacked the country and punish their “sponsors and supporters,” amid media reports that the militants received training from Ukrainian military intelligence.