A Russian frigate armed with cruise missiles has passed through the Bosphorus on its way to the eastern Mediterranean in a potentially ominous development for the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo. Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin warned Syrian rebels and civilians trapped in eastern Aleppo to leave the city by Friday night, when a temporary moratorium on air strikes was set to expire. “They are arriving in the eastern Mediterranean right before our election. The arrival of the Grigorovich and the Russian submarines armed with cruise missiles could add to the devastation being wreaked on eastern Aleppo, home to 275,000 people. The Russian naval base at Tartus is not equipped to host large ships like the Kuznetsov and there are no friendly naval bases nearby in case of breakdown.

Source: The Guardian November 04, 2016 21:13 UTC