Russia sends a ship with medical equipment to Syria to combat the coronavirus

Russia has sent a ship with medical supplies to Syria to help the country cope with the coronavirus. The ship crossed the Bosphorus on Tuesday carrying three military ambulances, Reuters reported. Syria reported the first case of the disease on Sunday, after weeks of rejecting opposition accusations that the virus had arrived. 

This pandemic is a challenge for Syria, which has been immersed in a civil conflict for 10 years and has a shattered health system. The Russian ship Dvnitsa-50, part of Moscow's auxiliary fleet, is carrying three military ambulances and a container on its deck, a Reuters reporter said.

Russia has provided military support to President Bashar al-Assad since 2015, operating a naval facility at the Tartus base and an air base in Latakia. The Russian army said on Monday that none of its military has contracted the coronavirus. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has been tested for the coronavirus after returning to Syria this week, according to Russia's Tass agency, and has tested negative. 

Syria and Russia have long been cultivating an alliance. Al Assad has stated on numerous occasions that the Russian presence in the country is helping them to fight terrorism. Although Vladimir Putin withdrew the Russian mission from Syria in 2016, a second deployment was approved in 2017, which was withdrawn at the end of the year. Yet Russia still maintains a military presence in the country.

Early this year, tension returned to Syria over Turkish interference in the country, and Russia has reinforced its troops in the area. The situation worsened with the death of 33 Turkish soldiers in Idlib, the last bastion of opposition to Bachar Al Asad, at the end of February. Ankara, which is also fighting for control of that territory, accused the Russian armed forces and Al Asad of the attack.  Moscow accused Turkey of being in an undue area and claimed that the Russian soldiers were in an area where they should not be.