So, last week, Russia said it was looking as though Assad might fall. A day or so later, though, Russia denied that Assad was in danger of losing the mutual massacre that has been going on in Syria for months. And, now this.
Russia sends warships to Syria for possible evacuation
y Erika Solomon
BEIRUT | Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:29am EST
(Reuters) - Russia sent warships to the Mediterranean to prepare a potential evacuation of its citizens from Syria, a Russian news agency said on Tuesday, a sign President Bashar al-Assad's key ally is worried about rebel advances that now threaten even the capital.
Moscow acted a day after insurgents waging a 21-month-old uprising obtained a possible springboard for a thrust into Damascus by seizing the Yarmouk Palestinian camp just 2 miles from the heart of the city, activists said.
The anti-Assad opposition has posted significant military and diplomatic gains in recent weeks, capturing a series of army installations across Syria and securing formal recognition from Western and Arab states for its new coalition.
<snip>
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted unnamed naval sources on Tuesday as saying that two assault ships, a tanker and an escort vessel had left a Baltic port for the Mediterranean Sea, where Russia has a port in Syria's coastal city of Tartus.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/18/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8AJ1FK20121218
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