GEOFOR
At various times, the Soviet Navy was one of the most powerful fleets in the world and had naval bases all over the world. But during the years of perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the prevailing opinion was that it was expensive to maintain them, and why bother, we are friends with everyone, no one threatens us. And the Navy lost its naval facilities almost everywhere. This was also influenced by local conflicts in countries where the USSR had footholds. For example, as a result of the war between Somalia and Ethiopia, the Berbera naval base on the shores of the Gulf of Aden was lost, where the USSR had built an entire city. By the way, as soon as the Soviet military left, Berbera was immediately occupied by the Americans. Thus, the Soviet Navy lost a place for mooring warships, a tracking station and missile depots in an important area of the World Ocean, and Russia no longer had a single naval base in the Red Sea. In addition to Berbera, we had another base in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia – on the island of Socotra. We had bases in Aden and the Seychelles. But we had to retreat from there too due to constant civil wars and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
There was another serious naval base – Cam Ranh in Vietnam, which was opened in Soviet times after leaving Berbera to base ships and vessels in the Pacific Ocean. But in 2002, the Russian contingent left Cam Ranh as well. The arguments were the same: it was expensive and no one was threatening us. Although, as time went by, it became obvious that this was a rash decision. The lack of a system for basing a Russian Navy squadron in the Mediterranean Sea led to the fact that huge resources were spent on long passages to the Mediterranean, and the duration of the voyages of warships and submarines increased.
It was clear that for the Russian Navy to fully operate, it needed a naval base in Port Sudan, in addition to the Syrian facilities that already existed at that time: the air base in Khmeimim and the naval base in the port of Tartus. Even under the then President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir, Moscow and Khartoum reached an agreement that a Russian naval base would appear in Sudan, but after the 2019 coup, the process stopped. With the military coming to power in the country, plans for the base remained unclear for a long time, and then a civil war began in Sudan. But Moscow did not bet on one of the parties, maintaining relations with all parties to the conflict. And this bore fruit. Now Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Yousef Sharif has confirmed that the agreement on the military base signed between Russia and Sudan remains in force and the parties “have reached a complete mutual understanding.” The agreement provides for the creation of a logistics center by Russia, which will simultaneously house no more than four Russian military ships, including those with a nuclear power plant. In addition, repair work can be carried out there. The agreement is valid for 25 years with the possibility of an automatic extension for 10 years. Russia also received the right to use Sudanese airports to transport cargo needed to create the logistics center and to place up to 300 personnel at the facility. In turn, Moscow undertakes to provide military assistance to the Sudanese army. Thus, the Russian Navy returns to the Red Sea. And then the main question arises: why do we need this base, what does Russia get?
There are several answers.
Let’s start with the fact that the place of entry and anchorage of ships in Sudan is a gateway to the African continent for Russia, which gives Moscow the opportunity to defend its interests in the region, which is currently being fought over not only by the main world players – the United States, the European Union and China – but also by such a regional power as Turkey. In addition, Sudan is located at the crossroads of trade routes from India and East Asia to Europe and the east coast of the United States. Thus, Russia gains control over the route through the Suez Canal, through which about 10% of all global maritime transport passes. It is no coincidence that the passage opposite Suez – the Bab el-Mandab Strait – is being developed by the Chinese, who built a naval base in Djibouti and paid the government of this country 14 billion dollars. After all, together with the Suez Canal, this strait provides the shortest sea route from Asia to Europe. Owning naval bases on the Red Sea easily takes control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which hydrocarbon supplies from the Persian Gulf monarchies are sent to the US and the EU.
But now the Chinese will have to make room with the appearance of the Russian base in Port Sudan. Moscow is showing Beijing that it is just as important a player in the Red Sea.
Another argument in favor of the new base is that it will help Russia officially gain a foothold in Sudan, which has been the responsibility of private military companies in recent years. And most importantly, Russia will ensure a permanent presence in the Indian Ocean, which was lost in the post-Soviet years. Now the Russian Navy will have the opportunity to refuel, replenish ammunition, and rotate personnel. After all, the shortest route between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea – Atlantic Ocean passes through the Red Sea, which allows ships to pass in both directions between Europe and Asia without going around Africa. Now the sailors of the Northern and Baltic fleets will not have to make long passages to spend several months in the Indian Ocean. With their own runway, replacement crews can be transported on military aircraft. Nuclear submarines and nuclear cruisers of the Pyotr Velikiy and Admiral Nakhimov types will be able to call there for rest without special approval or notification. These ships themselves can stay at sea for an almost unlimited time, but people are not made of iron, the crews need to be replaced. Now, with the appearance of a base in the Red Sea, this will become even easier and faster. In addition, Russia’s presence in Sudan may play an even more important role due to the uncertainty about the future of Russian bases in Syria. After the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime, everyone started talking about the closure of the Russian bases in Khmeimim and Tartus. But members of the new Syrian transitional government have already stated that they will keep the Russian bases if this is done on favorable terms. And the benefit is undeniable. Syria is extremely interested in Moscow’s help to legitimize the new regime and in material assistance. Syria is also interested in balancing Turkey’s growing influence in its country; it clearly needs to have a counterweight to the omnipresent Erdogan. And now the news about the opening of our base in Sudan may push the new transitional Syrian government to positively resolve the issue of Khmeimim and Tartus in Moscow’s favor. After all, now Russia can relocate to Port Sudan, for which, unlike Khmeimim and Tartus, it does not have to pay.
There is also this advantage: if the Turks continue to demand that the Syrians eliminate our presence in Tartus and Khmeimim, then Russia will have the opportunity to put pressure on Turkey with a new base in Port Sudan.
And Turkey is extremely interested in gaining a foothold in Sudan. Back in 2017, during Erdogan’s visit to Khartoum, a number of agreements were signed, including an agreement to transfer Suakin Island, which is called the “gateway to Africa”, to Turkey. True, it was announced that the island would be used exclusively for tourism purposes, but, according to Western media reports, Turkey was considering using it for military purposes as well. But then a coup occurred in Sudan and no specific steps were taken to transfer the island to Turkey. So now Russia has a wider field for maneuver with the Turks, since Moscow has stable contacts with both opposing sides in Sudan.
Incidentally, Moscow’s plans to return to the World Ocean as a serious geopolitical player are not limited to facilities in Sudan and Syria. Following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the military commander in eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, in September 2023, the two countries moved to develop a defense agreement that could result in the creation of a Russian naval base in the region, which would make it possible to monitor the actions of the European Union. A graduate of the Vystrel course, he is also a US citizen and former sworn brother of Gaddafi, is not known for throwing words to the wind.
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