A week after condemning Israel for airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria, Russia on Tuesday deployed MiG-31K fighter jets with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and deployed long-range nuclear-capable Tupolev Tu-22M strategic bombers to its airbase in the country for naval exercises, Interfax news agency reported, citing the Russian defense ministry.
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The aircraft dispatched to Russia's Hmeimim airbase will take part in exercises in the eastern Mediterranean, part of a surge of Russian military activity amid a standoff with the West over Ukraine and security in Europe.
As a reminder, last Wednesday the IDF said it had attacked batteries in Syrian territory after an anti-aircraft missile was fired towards Israel during what Syrian state television reported was an earlier strike around Damascus.
We are deeply concerned about "Israel continuing strikes against targets inside Syria," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters in response, warning the matter could lead to a sharp escalation of tensions and endanger international passenger flights.
"We systematically and resolutely oppose attempts to turn Syria into a scene of armed confrontation between third parties. Once again we are insistently calling upon the Israeli side to refrain from such use of force," she said.
Moscow announced on Jan. 20 that its navy would stage an array of exercises involving all its fleets from the Pacific to the Atlantic, drawing on 10,000 servicemen, 140 warships and dozens of planes.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the exercise was intended to train for action to "protect national interests" and "fend off military threats against the Russian Federation."
Syrian President Bashar Assad's Damascus has been a staunch ally of Moscow since Russia launched an airstrike campaign in Syria in 2015. Apart from the Hmeimim airbase, Russia also controls the Tartus naval facility.
Russia sent fighter jets with Kinzhal missiles for the first time last year after expanding the runway at the base to handle such aircraft, said Rob Lee, a military analyst at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute.
He said the deployments pointed to Russia's growing military presence in the Middle East and its ability to operate in different regions and to project power.
Russian media have said the Kinzhal hypersonic missile can hit targets up to 2,000 km (1,243 miles) away. It is one of several strategic weapons unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2018.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Syria to oversee the drills that mark the biggest Russian naval deployment to the Mediterranean Sea since Cold War times. Shoigu met with Assad on Tuesday to inform him about the drills and discuss plans for further military-technical cooperation.
The deployment of Kinzhal missiles to Syria appears to be intended to showcase the Russian military's capability to threaten the US carrier strike group in the Mediterranean.
The Defense Ministry said the Russian navy chief reported to Shoigu that the drills envisaged practice in targeting enemy warships.
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The massive Russian naval drills and the deployment of additional warplanes to Syria demonstrated an increased Russian military foothold in the region amid the worst Russia-West security crisis since the Cold War.
US officials say Russia has amassed over 130,000 troops near Ukraine and warned that an invasion could come at any moment.
Moscow has denied any plans to invade its neighbor but demanded that the West provide guarantees that NATO will not allow Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations to join, will not station weapons there, and will roll back alliance deployments in Eastern Europe. The US and its allies have roundly rejected those demands but have offered to discuss with Moscow ways to increase security in Europe.
