The Russian Defense Ministry is deploying the most powerful group of warships in the Mediterranean during Russia’s participation in the Syrian conflict, the website of the newspaper Izvestia reports on Tuesday.
According to the publication, the group includes ten ships of the Northern, Baltic, Black Sea fleets and the Caspian Flotilla. Eight of them are equipped with cruise missiles “Caliber”, and on the cruiser “Marshal Ustinov” anti-ship missile system “Vulkan” will be deployed. Also in the grouping are two submarines. To supply a large grouping to the Mediterranean Sea, a naval tanker of the Black Sea Fleet, Ivan Bubnov, was sent. A few more ships are now on the way, Izvestia writes.
A spokesman for the Syrian parliament Naji Gabid said in an interview with Izvestia that the presence of Russian warships in Syria is consistent with international law and approved by the Syrian authorities.
Naval expert Dmitry Boltenkov told the publication that the Syrian army is preparing for an operation in the province of Idlib, and if necessary Russian ships can support the Syrian offensive. “It is for this purpose that eight carriers of the Caliber rockets are withdrawn simultaneously in the Mediterranean Sea, these complexes effectively shoot at coastal targets, so they can provide powerful fire support to the Syrian troops conducting ground operations,” he said.
According to the newspaper Kommersant, Russia is strengthening its combat potential in Syria because of the possible military operation of the Western coalition against the Syrian government forces. “Some measures were taken following the results of the previous attack by the coalition,” the newspaper of its source in the military administration said.
In particular, according to him, in addition to the previously imported air defense systems, the battery of anti-aircraft missile systems (Tor-M2) was redeployed to the airbase “Khmeimim”. It is an all-weather air defense system designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense at a distance of up to 15 km and at an altitude of up to 10 km.
“In addition, according to the Syrian media, Damascus has prepared its air defense weapons (the S-200 system, the S-125 and the Osa missile systems) to repel a possible strike,” Kommersant writes.
On the eve of the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major-General Igor Konashenkov announced the US enlargement in the Middle East of the carrier group of cruise missiles. According to him, on August 25, the destroyer of the US Navy, Ross, entered the Mediterranean with 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the range of which allows strikes throughout Syria.
August 26 Konashenkov said that in Syria in the south deeskalation area Idlib arrived English-language experts to stage a chemical attack against the civilian population. According to the Russian military, the US plans to use provocation with the use of chemical weapons for a new attack on Syria.