The Admiral Grigorovich and the Admiral Essen, two frigates of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, are heading to the Mediterranean Sea in order to bolster Russia’s military presence in the region, according to a statement issued by the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service.
While en route to their final destination, the two vessels reportedly conducted a series of naval exercises, including the detection and tracking of a simulated enemy submersible target.
As ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov explained, militants in Idlib province are preparing to stage a false flag chemical weapon attack against civilians in order to blame Damascus, while the United States stands ready to launch a punitive strike against Syria as soon as the necessary pretext becomes available.
"This provocation with the active participation of the British special services will serve as another pretext for the US, UK and France to conduct a missile strike on the Syrian government and infrastructure," Konashenkov claimed.
Earlier, US National Security Adviser John Bolton also reportedly warned Russian Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev that Washington is prepared to take forceful military action against Syria if Damascus uses chemical weapons, stressing that America is prepared to respond with greater force than before.
READ MORE: Bolton Warned US Might Hit Syria with Greater Force Than Before — Reports
The US, UK, and France coordinated a massive airstrike on Syria in April 2018 after the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma had been reported by the controversial NGO "White Helmets", which has repeatedly been caught staging false flag attacks.
In July, however, OPCW experts announced that they had found traces of organic substances containing chlorine, reportedly used in the attack in Douma. Yet there was no evidence that nerve agents had been used in the attack.
