Ever since the toppling of Bashar Assad in Syria in December, Russia has been unsure whether its armed forces will be able to maintain their naval base at the Mediterranean port of Tartus and the Hmeimim airbase further north.

This uncertainty has prompted Russia to shift its focus to Libya.

"In the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Assad regime [...] you had a lot of flights and cargo ships taking Russian material from bases in Syria toward Libya," Tarek Megerisi, an analyst at the think tank European Council on Foreign Relations and author of a recent study on Russia's influence in Libya, told DW.

"So, it was clear at that point that in Moscow's eyes, Libya is the safe space for it in the Mediterranean," he added.

According to a report published in March by the New York-based think tank The Soufan Center, this is not the first time that Russian ships have called at the Tobruk naval base in eastern Libya.

The strategic port is under the control of Khalifa Haftar, the warlord and commander of the Libyan National Army militia who rules large parts of the east of the divided country.

"In June 2024, two Russian destroyers visited the Haftar-controlled Tobruk naval base. The warships' visit was billed as a training mission but was likely a continuation of........

© Deutsche Welle