ISTANBUL: Russian warship – Mirage – passed through Istanbul’s Bosphorus strait on Friday. It’s headed to the Mediterranean to back the Russian bombing campaign in Syria, journalists reported. The corvette – which left Russia’s Sevastopol base in Crimea on Thursday – is on a mission is to protect its ships from threats of other ships or submarines. Russian soldiers were seen on the vessel loaded with cruise missile launchers as well as artillery. The Mirage took part in the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia over Moscow-backed South Ossetia region.