Russia Deploys Missile-Armed Ship to Syria after US Attack
Local Editor
Sources reported that Russia sent a missile-armed frigate to its naval base in Syria's Mediterranean coastal city of Tartus following a recent US missile strike against an airbase in the Arab country.
An informed military-diplomatic source in Moscow told Russia's TASS news agency on Friday that the Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian Black Sea Fleet's frigate, was due to arrive in the Mediterranean later on the day.
"The Russian ship armed with cruise missiles Kalibr will visit the logistics base in Tartus," the source added.
The 4,000-ton warship's presence off Syria's coast would depend on the situation, but "in any way it will last more than a month," the source said.
The Russian ship was deployed to Syria after taking part in a joint exercise with Turkish ships in the Black Sea.
Early on Friday, US warships in the eastern Mediterranean launched a barrage of 59 Tomahawk missiles against Shayrat Airfield in Syria's Homs Province, which Washington alleged was the origin of a suspected chemical attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria's Idlib Province earlier this month.
Washington has not provided any evidence to support the accusations, prompting criticisms from many countries and international intuitions for choosing to take unilateral military action hastily and without proof.
The strike drew the praise from anti-Damascus militant groups as well as the parties long viewed as their staunch supporters, including Saudi Arabia, ‘Israel', Turkey and their Western allies.
For its part, Syria categorically denied carrying out the purported gas attack, with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem stressing that the Idlib airstrike had targeted a depot, where terrorists stored chemical weapons.
Damascus denounced the US assault as a "blatant aggression" that killed up to 15 people, including civilians, and caused "significant material damage."
Russia-US ties also hit a new low following the military strike, which was condemned by Moscow as an act of "aggression against a sovereign nation" and a violation of international law.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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