“Russia has deployed a naval unit in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time since the Soviet era, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin says is aimed at defending Russian security, but which comes as Moscow faces off with the West over Syria,” reports Israel Hayom. “Russia’s military chief of staff said on Thursday that Russia had stationed 16 warships and three ship-based helicopters in the region.”
On Wednesday, Russian warships believed to be carrying arms to resupply the Syrian regime were spotted in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, according to a CNN report. The report cited U.S. intelligence sources that stated they had identified the ships leaving Russian ports several days ago. Using U.S. satellite imagery, they had further identified containers thought to be carrying parts of the advanced S-300 anti-missile system, as well as other weapons to be used by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s military…..”
“Russia maintains its only port in the Mediterranean in the Syrian coastal city of Tartus. Putin’s announcement comes days after Moscow said it planned to resume patrols by nuclear-armed submarines in the southern seas as part of a Putin’s broader effort to revive Russia’s military might. Putin has stressed the importance of a strong military since returning to the presidency last May. In 13 years in power, he has often cited external threats when talking of the need for agile armed forces and Russian political unity.”
Why is this is significant? Because it shows Putin is steadily escalating Russian military involvement in the Middle East — the Kremlin is supplying arms to the Assad regime in Damascus, offering to put Russian troops on the Golan Heights as part of a UN “peacekeeping” mission, and bolstering its alliances with Iran and Lebanon.
- “On Wednesday, Qusair fell to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. Qusair is a strategic town that connects Damascus with Assad’s Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean, with its ports and Russian naval base. It’s a major strategic shift. Assad’s forces can now advance on rebel-dominated areas in central and northern Syria, including Aleppo.
- “For the rebels, it’s a devastating loss of territory, morale and their supply corridor to Lebanon. No one knows if this reversal of fortune will be the last, but everyone knows that Assad now has the upper hand….
- “What altered the tide of battle was brazen outside intervention. A hardened, well-trained, well-armed Hezbollah force — from the terrorist Shiite group that dominates Lebanon and answers to Iran — crossed into Syria and drove the rebels out of Qusair, which Syrian artillery has left a smoking ruin.
- “This is a huge victory not just for Tehran but also for Moscow, which sustains Assad in power and prizes its warm-water port at Tartus, Russia’s only military base outside of the former Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin has stationed a dozen or more Russian warships offshore, further protecting his strategic outpost and his Syrian client.
One aspect of biblical prophecy which relates to the Middle East is the fact that Russia and Iran are clearly pushing the buttons behind the scenes, via their proxies. It is also beginning to appear that Russia has much bigger goals in the region and more and more interest in Syria and by definition Israel.
Not only do we seem to be approaching the Tribulation very rapidly (as discussed over the past week), but the epic wars of Isaiah 17 and Ezekiel 38-39 (aka "Gog-MaGog") seem to be approaching rapidly as well.
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