Russian cargo ship 'on Syria mission' sinks in Mediterranean
A Russian cargo ship that Ukraine claims was sent to Syria to collect weapons has sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, according to officials in Moscow.
Two crew members are missing after an engine room explosion sank the Ursa Major between Spain and Algeria, the foreign ministry said. Fourteen other crew were rescued and taken to Spain.
Ukraine's military intelligence claimed yesterday that the ship, previously called Sparta III, had been sent to Syria to remove weapons and military equipment after the fall of Bashar al Assad.
In a post on Telegram, the agency said the ship broke down near Portugal but the crew were able to "fix the problem and continue through the Strait of Gibraltar".
It shared a picture of Sparta III, though referred to the ship in the statement as Sparta. There is another Russian ship in the Mediterranean called Sparta, so it is not fully clear which vessel the agency was referring to.
Ship tracking data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shows the Ursa Major departed from the Russian port of St Petersburg on 11 December. It was last seen sending a signal at 10.04pm GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain.
Read more:
Protests in Slovakia after PM meets Putin in Moscow
British troops could be deployed to Ukraine to train soldiers
On leaving St Petersburg it had indicated that its next port of call was the Russian port of Vladivostok.
The operator and owner of the ship is a company called SK-Yug, part of shipping and logistics company Oboronlogistics, according to LSEG data.
Assad fled to Moscow from Syria earlier this month after rebels captured the capital of Damascus in a lightning offensive that brought his family's five-decade rule to an end.
The Kremlin has long been an ally of Assad, who gave Vladimir Putin a Mediterranean seaport and a nearby air base in Syria in return for military support during the country's civil war, which began in 2011.
Four years later, Russia intervened directly in the civil war and launched its first airstrikes in the country after Islamic State fighters seized the historic city of Palmyra. This proved to be a turning point in the conflict.
A year later, Syrian troops, backed by Russia and Iran, recaptured Aleppo - a significant blow to the rebels.
But in recent weeks Russia has been pulling back its military from the frontlines in northern Syria and the removal of Assad has also thrown the future of Moscow's bases in the country - the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia and the Tartous naval facility - into question.
