Darfur 24-Khartoum
Exclusive
A military source preferred to remain anonymous revealed the arrival of 5 Russian military flights from the Syrian Tartous base to the Sudanese naval base in the Red Sea, (Flamingo) during the past few days.
The source told Darfur 24 that an Airlift from Tartous to Port Sudan consisting of 20 flight will be completed in the coming days, including the five flights that have already arrived.
A Sudanese army officer, who preferred to withhold his name told Darfur 24, that the Russian base consists of about 60 soldiers surrounded by heavy guard, amid extreme secrecy and hiding of information for Sudanese naval officers.
Last November, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the establishment of a Russian naval facility in Sudan, but, the Sudanese army chief of staff; Mohamed Othman Al-Hussein denied at that time existence of such an agreement.
Russia, which wants to play a leading role in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, is looking to provide itself with a long-term base for its forces deployed in both Africa and the Indian Ocean.
This new base would allow it to compete with those other maritime powers, whether regional or global, that are already present in this area of high tension. It fits in perfectly with Russia’s new ambitions vis à vis its southern arc, as already evidenced in the Mediterranean since 2015, in order to compete as much with western superiority as with Chinese desires
. Seen from the Sudanese side, it could be a manoeuvre aimed at restarting a dialogue with the new US administration
.