Free Republic

Iran and Russia signed an agreement Tuesday to expand military ties in a visit to Tehran by the Russian defense minister. Sergei Shoigu, in remarks carried by Russian news agencies, said Moscow wants to develop a "long-term and multifaceted" military relationship with Iran. He said that the new agreement includes expanded counter-terrorism cooperation, exchanges of military personnel for training purposes and an understanding for each country's navy to more frequently use the other's ports. Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan urged greater cooperation as a means of opposing American ambitions in the region. Moscow and Tehran have staunchly supported Syrian President...

Angry outbursts over agreement allowing Russian Navy to stay.Politicians pelted Ukrainian lawmakers with a smoke bomb and eggs as the parliament approved an agreement that will keep the Russian navy based in the Crimean Peninsula. Chamber speaker Volodymyr Litvyn was forced to take shelter under his umbrella as he was hit by eggs after deputies from newly elected President Viktor Yanukovich's coalition approved the extension to the Russian Black Sea Fleet's base in Crimea. Ukrainian nationalists, led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former President Viktor Yushchenko, regard the base as a betrayal of Ukraine's national interests. They wanted...

Russia has begun withdrawing ships from its naval base in Tartus, Syria, after a rapid advance by Islamist rebel forces that the Syrian army, led by President Bashar al-Assad, is unable to contain, according to Naval News. On December 2, the tanker "Yelnya," crucial for supporting Russian forces in the Mediterranean, departed Tartus. Other vessels may have left the base along with it. The Russian naval group in Syria consists of five ships and one submarine, including two "Admiral Gorshkov" class frigates, one "Admiral Grigorovich" class frigate, an upgraded "Kilo" class submarine, and two auxiliary vessels. If Russia decides to...

The Kremlin has fired the commander of its Black Sea Fleet as punishment for a series of humiliating losses to Ukraine, according to Russian war bloggers. The bloggers said that Admiral Viktor Sokolov was replaced by chief of staff Vice Admiral Sergey Pinchuk after Ukraine sank the Russian warship Caesar Kunikov with a sea drone last week. It was the latest in a series of victories for Ukraine, which has a tiny navy, against Russia's much bigger Black Sea fleet. "It seems that it had become impossible to ignore the latest heavy losses of the fleet," the War Informant channel...