Russian Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate is on the move
Maxim A. Suchkov reports on Twitter that the "Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, armed with cruise missiles, is in the eastern Mediterranean heading to a naval base in Tartus." The #Russian news agency TASS reports that it is a routine voyage and is not in response to the U.S. bombardment on Syria. The frigate is the latest class the Russian Navy ordered for the Black Sea Fleet and carries Kalibr land-attack cruise missiles. Kalibr missiles are equivalent to US Tomahawk missiles and they have been used against Syrian targets a few times over this last year.
The Grigorovich frigate is there in support of the Syrian regime's goal to retake Aleppo from rebel forces.
Russia suspends air safety agreement
BREAKING: #Russia has suspended the #Syria air safety agreement w/ the US. Foreign min. says strike "thoughtless"/deepens existing problems.
Moscow described the American attack on the Syrian military base as "aggression against a sovereign state", and suspended a bilateral agreement to avoid clashes in the skies above Syria. The suspension of the memorandum was announced by the Russian foreign ministry.
Russia attempted to deflect blame from the current Syrian regime by claiming Syrian jets hit an arms depot housing "toxic substances". They denied that Assad had any part in gassing his own people.
Russia has condemned Friday's strike on the Syrian military base.
#Trump ordered the strikes after accusing the Syrian government of killing scores of men, women, and children with Sarin gas. He described the airstrikes as being of 'vital national security interest" to the United States. 58 missiles reached their targets and it is said by a U.S.
official that there were no Russian aircraft at the base at the time.
Sarin is a man-made nerve agent that is odorless and colorless and is considered a weapon of mass destruction. It was outlawed in April of 1997 but rogue countries still continue to manufacture the bio-weapon. Sarin was developed in Germany in 1938 as a pesticide.
Just one to 10 milliliters can be fatal to humans. It can be absorbed through the lungs, the eyes, and the skin. Most victims die of asphyxiation though exposure to just a small amount is survivable and may leave no long term effects.
While the U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson said that the U.S. did not discuss the military strike with Russia before the attack, it has been reported that the U.S. military said it communicated with its Russian counterparts to minimize Russian casualties.
