World

Russian ship with dangerous cargo on board illegally crosses Bosporus

The cargo ship Sparta IV may be delivering S-300 missiles from the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria, to the port of Novorossiysk.

The Russian cargo ship Sparta-4, which is under US sanctions, has entered the Black Sea through the Bosporus. The container ship may contain military cargo from Syria. This was reported by Naval News.

It is noted that Turkey, which controls the Bosporus Strait, has closed the way for Russian warships through the straits between the Mediterranean and Black Seas after the war in Ukraine began, but a ban is not imposed on auxiliary and merchant vessels.

According to Naval News, the Sparta-4 belongs to the Russian company SK Yug, which is under US sanctions.

It is reported that after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6, the ship delivered humanitarian aid to the Syrian port of Tartus and then headed back to Russia. The vessel entered the Bosphorus on March 1, before which it was accompanied by the Russian Navy’s missile corvette Steregushchiy.

The publication writes that the ship quickly and unnoticed passed through the Bosphorus in the dark, and its draft of 6.2 meters indicates a heavy load.

The ship may likely be carrying military equipment. The Syrian city of Tartus is home to a Russian naval base.

Past team authors

Recent Posts

How Propaganda and Cash Bonuses Feed Russia’s War Machine Despite High Losses

Russia’s war in Ukraine increasingly runs on a blunt exchange: money up front, myth on…

3 days ago

“You Don’t Need to Pay Influencers in Serbia”: Fact-Checker Ivan Subotić on How Russian Propaganda Thrives for Free

Ivan Subotić is the editor-in-chief at the Serbian portal FakeNews Tracker and collaborates with the…

3 days ago

Two Norwegian Sites, One Kremlin Script: Derimot.no and Steigan.no Under the Microscope

Pro-Russian propaganda in Norway rarely looks like a bot swarm or a shadowy “state channel”.…

1 week ago

Pro-Kremlin outlets weaponize Russia’s Oreshnik strike on Ukraine to intimidate Europe, justify aggression

A coordinated propaganda campaign across Central and Western Europe portrays Russia's Oreshnik missile strike on…

1 week ago

How a Russian Fake Nearly Reignited Ukrainian–Hungarian Tensions, and Why Pro-Orbán Media Took the Bait

In recent years, Viktor Orbán has earned a reputation as the most openly anti-Ukrainian leader…

1 week ago

Russian “Z-Nuns” in Sweden: How Churches Became a Channel for Espionage and War Financing

What began as a seemingly harmless act of charity in Swedish churches has turned into…

1 week ago