Moscow/ Washington: Russia has sent a reconnaissance vessel from its Black Sea fleet to the coast off Syria, as Moscow anxiously watches Western plans for military action against the Damascus regime, a report said on Monday.
The SSV-201 intelligence ship Priazovye started its voyage yesterday evening “to the appointed region of military service in the eastern Mediterranean,” a military source told the Interfax news agency.
“The crew have the mission… of collecting operative information in the region of an escalating conflict,” it added. Russia is one of Assad’s biggest arms suppliers and has a naval maintenance facility in the Syrian port of Tartous.
US Navy deploys amphibious ship to Mediterranean
US Navy deployed an amphibious transport ship to the Mediterranean, where five destroyers are already in place for possible missile strikes on Syria, a defense official said on Sunday.
The USS San Antonio, with several helicopters and hundreds of Marines on board, is “on station in the Eastern Mediterranean” but “has received no specific tasking,” said the defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Unlike the destroyers deployed to the area, the San Antonio carries no Tomahawk cruise missiles but can ferry up to four helicopters and is designed to bring Marines ashore by chopper or landing craft.
No amphibious landing is in the works, however, as President Barack Obama has ruled out any “boots on the ground” if the US takes military action against the Syrian regime. There are five destroyers off the coast of Syria, the USS Stout, Mahan, Ramage, Barry and Graveley, that are ready to fire cruise missiles if Obama gives the order. (Agencies)
