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Intel: Why Moscow is dispatching its military to fight coronavirus in Syria, Italy

On March 25, the first Russian navy cargo ship transited Turkey’s Bosporus strait en route to Syria. The ship was reportedly carrying three ambulances and a shipping container on its deck — equipment to be used to help fight the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Syria.
The Russian Navy cargo ship Dvinitsa-50 sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 24, 2020. REUTERS/Yoruk Isik - RC2HQF9QB951

On March 25, the first Russian navy cargo ship transited Turkey’s Bosporus strait en route to Syria. The ship was reported to be carrying three ambulances and a shipping container on its deck believed to contain equipment to be used to help fight the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Syria.

Syria, a country with a health system wrecked by years of conflict, reported its first case of coronavirus March 22. It reported four new cases on March 25 to bring the total to five.

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