The Russian facility at Tartus has been used for delivering armaments and supplies by Russian dock landing ships and cargo ships that pass the Straits from the Russian Black Sea port in Novorossiysk to Syria (the Syrian Express) — for the purposes of Russia′s military operation that began on 30 September 2015 as well as for the Syrian Arab Army.[1][14][15][16] According to media reports in September 2015, a drastic intensification of traffic of the Syrian Express was noted since mid-August 2015.[17]