Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Aleppo --- Expecting the Regime Assault
Friday, July 27, 2012 at 9:251810 GMT: Syria. Russia has made a direct threat that any attack on its naval base in Tartous will be met with extreme prejudice:
"If the armed Syrian opposition ventures to implement their threat and to attack the Russian naval supplies and maintenance facility, Russia has ample capabilities in the region now to provide an adequate response. We won't recommend hotheads in the Syrian opposition doing that," a source in the Russian General Staff told the Interfax news agency.
What's fascinating is the source also added a line about the Syrian government having stepped up their support of the base as well.
Also interesting, the word "now," indicating that the Russians have significantly stepped up their ability to strike targets inside Syria.
Still, it's an unverified threat from a low-level anonymous staff member. One would expect any attack on Russian property to be met with force. What's interesting isn't the content of the report - it's the fact that a threat was made in the first place. Whether this was a direct response to a threat from insurgents, or a provocation, is not known.