Disinformation

Russian Navy under fire in media war over alleged Syria mission

Another increase of tension around Syria has been accompanied by a large-scale spread of disinformation. This time the Russian Navy is the target of information attacks.

Ilya Kramnik

Voice of Russia,

20 June, 2013

For several days on end a number of mass media outlets have broadcasted news that Russian ships with marines on board are either preparing for, or are already on their way to Syria

The media were bursting with lines like “The Nikolai Filchenkov with a marine company and tanks onboard is heading for Syria” and “the Caesar Kunikov with the same on board”, or even that “the Kaliningrad with nobody-can-say-what on board.” Vague references were made to so-called “competent sources” crying that “Russia, Syria, Iran, and China are preparing for large-scale joint manoeuvres on the Syrian territory and in the territorial waters of the country.”

Finally, direct lies altogether were drummed up. The Financial Times attributed the quote that “150 Marines and 25 tanks” are already onboard one of the Black Sea large landing ships to the chief of the press-service of the Black Sea Fleet, Captain First Rank Valentin Trukhachev, and Interfax news agency. They supposedly also reported that “the ships would be sent to Syria in case of need.” All this despite the fact that Black Sea marines are not armed with tanks.

The campaign was initiated by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement concerning the supplies of new Russian combat helicopters to Syria, while what was at issue was the return of repaired old helicopters that had been supplied to Syria by the Soviet Union. The peak of the tension came when the news channel Al-Arabiya, referring to the Iranian News Agency Fars, spread news about large-scale war games with the participation of Russian, Chinese, Syrian and Iranian military units. According to the report, these were going to be the most large-scale manoeuvres in the Middle East, and about 90 thousand land, sea, and air force servicemen were going to take part in them. Later, the Al-Arabiya website posted a message that Russia and Syria refuted the information about the alleged upcoming war games.

The “main characters” of this pseudo news are actual real ships. We can find out where each of them was at given time. Reports about the Kunikov heading for Syria began to appear on June 19. On June 16, the ship returned to Sevastopol after a cruise to Italy. On June 19, the ship set sail again. The mass media broke into frenzy that this time Syria was its intended destination. Nevertheless, according to information from Sevastopol, the goal of this cruise is the measurement of radio deviation, and the ship is due at base by June 20.

The second “suspect” was the Nikolay Filchenkov, which remains in port, clearly visible from the coast, and it has stayed there all these days.

The Baltic Fleet is next on the list. The large landing ship Kaliningrad that set sail at the beginning of June was accused of sailing in “the Syrian direction.” The ship had taken part in the international maneuvers BALTOPS-2012. After that, together with other ships involved in the exercise, she headed for Kiel in order to participate in the traditional Kiel Week – a large sea holiday held every year on the Baltic coast of Germany. After it the ship is returning to Baltiysk.

As for Al-Arabiya’s report concerning a “Russian aircraft carrier” heading for the Syrian coasts, it is not worth serious discussion. The only Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, returned from a long cruise to the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea at the end of the winter, and now sits in its proper place in the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea. The ship is to undergo serious repairs soon, and she will be out of action for a long time.

In fact there are far more things of interest taking place. It happens quite often that fleet ships leave their bases, because there are hundreds of exercises in the combat training plan of the Navy. It looks like a new wave of reports about Russian ships making their way to Syria is in store for readers every time anything larger than a tugboat sets sail from Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Baltiysk, Kronstadt, Severomorsk, or, perhaps, even Vladivostok and Astrakhan – which is entirely possible because the Azov and Black Sea can be reached via channels.

Joking aside, the Mediterranean Sea, especially its eastern waters, is the operational area of the Black Sea Fleet. If a real order to redeploy forces to the Syrian coasts is received, what tasks will the fleet be able to perform? Syria is a zone of Russian interests, and today these interests lie in eliminating external interference in the events in this country. While the Russian Navy ships are in Syrian territorial waters or on the Tartus base, they can become a factor that would exclude aNATO military operation: a possible conflict with Russia is by no means the price the Alliance is ready to pay for the Syrian issue’s settlement.

Finally, even in the absence of foreign interference, an internal conflict in Syria can threaten Russian property in the country, including the Tartus base, which the Navy uses as a logistics post. Protecting the lives and safety of the base’s personnel is the direct responsibility of the Ministry of Defense, and if such a decision is made, the Fleet will be able to carry it out.