A ship from the sanctioned list passed the Bosphorus with a heavy cargo
A Russian cargo ship included in the US sanctions list, en route from Syria to the port of Novorossiysk with heavy cargo, passed through the Bosporus strait controlled by Turkey on Sunday night. This is reported by the Naval News site. He notes that after the start of the war in Ukraine, Turkey closed the way through the straits between the Mediterranean and Black seas for Russian warships, but this does not apply to auxiliary and merchant vessels.
The ship called “Sparta-4” reportedly belongs to the Russian company “SK YuG”, which is included in the American sanctions lists. The ship itself is also under sanctions, the BBC notes.
After the earthquake in Turkey and Syria in early February, it delivered humanitarian aid to the Syrian port of Tartus. Then it went back to Russia. In the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, the ship was accompanied by the Russian corvette Steregushchy. According to Naval News, the ship “quickly and quietly passed through the Bosphorus in the dark of the day”, and its draft indicated a large load. Naval News assumes that there is military equipment on board, but this has not been confirmed by other sources. A Russian naval base is located in Tartus.
Last summer, Ukraine expressed concern over the possible delivery by sea of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems used by the Russian army in the war from Syria to Russia.
