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Russia Masses Huge Force Off Syrian Coast for Final Assault on Rebels in Idlib
(Independent-UK) Bel Trew - Russia has deployed at least a dozen vessels to waters off Syria as President Assad's forces prepared to take Idlib province, the rebels' last major enclave in Syria. The ships include the frigates Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen, which are armed with Kalibr long-range cruise missiles, the Pytlivy frigate and the Vishny Volochek missile corvette. Idlib province, near the border with Turkey, is home to almost 3 million people and has a considerable al-Qaeda and jihadist presence. In Moscow on Wednesday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called rebel fighters in Idlib a "festering abscess" that "needs to be liquidated." "I hope our Western partners will not give in to [rebel] provocations and will not obstruct an anti-terror operation."