NATO confirmed a large scale Russian navy buildup in the Mediterranean Sea off Syria on Tuesday. “The Russian Navy has dispatched substantial naval forces to the Mediterranean, including several ships equipped with modern cruise missiles,” NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu confirmed to Haaretz in a statement.

Russian media on Tuesday called the deployment Moscow's largest naval buildup since it entered the Syrian conflict in 2015. The reinforcement comes as Russia's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is believed to be considering an assault on the last big rebel-held enclave, Idlib in the north
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-...rise-1.6429071


As tensions between the U.S. and Moscow in Syria continued to spiral, Russian newspaper Izvestiya reported Tuesday that Russia had sent an unprecedented grouping of 10 ships, mostly armed with Kalibr cruise missiles, and two submarines to the eastern Mediterranean—with more naval assets on the way—in response to an apparent U.S. military buildup in the region.

Russia's Kommersant further reported that Moscow had mobilized two Tor-M2 surface-to-air missile defense systems in Syria and that the country's air defenses had been placed on high alert in anticipation of a potential U.S. assault, which the Russian Defense Ministry has said would come after a "false flag" chemical weapons attack staged by West-backed militants.
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-send...ts-say-1093185

In full for those of you who don't want to visit TASS

MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. A group of warships of the Northern Fleet led by the missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov accomplishing missions as part of the Russian Navy’s Mediterranean task force has held planned anti-sabotage drills during its anchorage, Fleet spokesman Captain 1st Rank Vadim Serga said on Wednesday.

"The personnel on watch for anti-submarine and anti-sabotage defense of the cruiser Marshal Ustinov and the large anti-submarine warfare ship Severomorsk fired grenade launchers to prevent an attack by a group of a notional enemy’s underwater sabotage forces and weapons on the warships and vessels," the spokesman said.

The naval personnel also repelled a simulated terrorists’ attack using fast-speed boats and hit small-size naval targets from large-caliber machine-guns. During the anchorage, the warships’ crews also practiced ship damage control, held anti-wreck checks and replenished water and fuel stocks from the tanker Dubna.

Since the start of the long-distance voyage, the warships have covered about 8,000 nautical miles. The Marshal Ustinov and the Severomorsk left the Northern Fleet’s main naval base on July 5, 2018. They took part in Russia’s Main Naval Parade off Kronshtadt and in Baltic Sea maneuvers jointly with the warships of the Russian Baltic and Black Sea Fleets, and also made a business call at the port of the capital of Algeria.

http://tass.com/defense/1019084