As American warships converge in the Mediterranean Russia getting ready to defend Assad from possible strikes
It’s still not known what the response of the US and allies will be to the chemical attack in Douma which took dozens of lives. Two meetings of the UN Security Council are taking place on Monday regarding the attack. At the same time American officials did not rule out a military response, blaming Russia and Iran for backing the Assad regime.
It is reported that the US Navy Ohio-class guided missile submarine USS Georgia changed its area of operations to the Mediterranean. It carries up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima is currently located off the cost of Djibouti and might be ready to conduct strikes at Syria.
US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Laboon crossed the Suez and is located in the Red Sea.
USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) arrived in Cyprus on April 5th. USS Georgia (SSGN-729is also in the Mediterranean. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) and the Virginia-class submarine USS John Warner (SSN-785) are currently also in the Mediterranean.
At the same time, Russia has put S-400 anti-missile systems in Syria into high readiness state. The Su-24 bombers from Khmeimim air base are monitoring the actions of the U.S. Navy in the Mediterranean, according to the reports on social networks.
“A second pair of Russian Air Force Su-30SM fighter jets left Khmeimim , while a third pair is ready for departure after return of the first pair which has been airborne since an hour ago. Russia's S-400 SAM battery is also on high alert,” Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) writes on Twitter.
The sources in Tartus report that Russian fighters conduct low altitude flights “apparently on a monitoring mission of the US Navy”.
It is reported that two Russian Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft are patrolling the Syrian coast.
War_Intel (@WarIntelNEWS) writes that all Russian aircraft have left Khmeimim airbase and are constantly in the air only returning for refueling.
Syrian news agencies report that the evacuation of the personnel from the military facilities is underway.