After More Than a Month, Russian Flotilla Remains Stalled off Tartus

Commercial maritime traffic at the Syrian port of Tartus is picking up again under the new management of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which overthrew the government of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in December However, Russian military cargo ships remain stalled off Tartus’ harbor, where the Russian Navy has maintained a base since the days of the Cold War. 

HTS would have reasons to restrict Russian access. Russia helped the Assad government fight HTS (and other rebel groups) for 13 years, and the Russian Air Force has long been accused of indiscriminate bombing of rebel-held civilian areas. In the final days of the regime, the Russian gove…