Moscow, Russia. Russia’s government and its media exploded in anger on Friday, after President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack carried out against civilians in the town of Idlib earlier this week. As Kremlin officials condemned the attack and announced multiple measures in response, American propaganda outlets like CNN and Fox News tried to overplay the effects of America’s illegal missile strikes.
The Kremlin on Friday announced three distinct steps it will take in response to Trump’s decision to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airfield from which the US has claimed the chemical attacks were launched.
Russia has first suspended an agreement with the United States to keep lines of communication open between military officials on the ground in and around Syria to prevent accidentally engaging with one another.
The next action taken was announced by Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov who stated, “In order to protect the most sensitive objects of the Syrian infrastructure,” the Kremlin would put in place “a system of measures to bolster and increase the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces’ air defense systems.”
A further development is the Russian Navy announcement that the cruise missile frigate The Admiral Grigorovich, will stop in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. The Russian TASS news agency says the ship will stay on post for at least a month. The ship itself is a cruise missile launch platform and able to engage multiple targets.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov grimly announced that President Vladimir Putin had condemned the US attack on Syria “as aggression against a sovereign nation,” that was “in violation of international law and also under an invented pretext.” He added,“This step deals significant damage to US-Russian ties, which are already in a deplorable state.” One can only wonder what icy Kremlin reception awaits US Secretary of State Tillerson, due in Moscow soon.