The Russian Navy is visiting the Philippines for “regional threat assessment drills,” as Russian state outlet Sputnik News puts it. While they are in town, the Russians are wooing the Filipinos with arms deals and crazy Kung Fu performances.
The Russian Navy’s aircraft carrier group centered around the Admiral Kuznetsov is now cruising off the coast of Syria and has begun flight drills with its on-board compliment of Mig-29K and Sukhoi Su-33 fighters.
Russian warships heading for Syria could be used to target civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday, calling on Moscow to implement a lasting ceasefire.
A Syrian opposition website has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to create a situation that is more beneficial to his own interests even as he takes advantage of the time he has left before the “lame duck” in Washington is replaced and that “it is clear to Putin that the next administration will take a much tougher stance against the Kremlin.”
Russia will create a permanent naval base in Syria to expand its military footprint in its closest Middle East ally, a government official said on Monday, a week after Moscow said it was considering reopening Soviet-era bases in Vietnam and Cuba.
