The sailors of Russia's Caspian Sea fleet have seen little action over the last 300 years but now the war raging in Syria has thrust them into the forefront of Russia's largest military operation abroad since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Better known for oil drilling and sturgeon smuggling than for strategic naval importance, the Caspian Sea bordering Central Asia and the Middle East was an unexpected place for Russia to launch a battery of cruise missile attacks against Islamic State targets in Syria on Wednesday.
But the Caspian Flotilla, founded by Peter the Great in 1722 and headquartered in Astrakhan — a city on Russia's south coast celebrated for its watermelons and dried fish — was the only choice for Russian generals wanting to showcase their military reach in the Syrian conflict.