BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:50 P.M.) – The Russian Navy has been amassing a large number of ships off the coast of Syria as the Sochi Agreement continues to fall apart.
According to media reports, Russia has sent their Admiral Makarov frigate with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles to the Mediterranean; it will join the Admiral Grigorovich, Admiral Essen and Pytlivy frigates, landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov and the Vishny Volochek missile corvette.
This move by the Russian Navy appears to be in response to the constant ceasefire violations committed by the jihadist rebels inside the Idlib buffer zone.
A military source in Damascus told Al-Masdar News this afternoon that the Russian naval buildup was conducted in response to the ceasefire violations and refusal of armed groups to leave the buffer zone.