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Moscow Denies Sending Warship to Syria

19 June 2012 17:32 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Russian Defense Ministry denied on Tuesday media reports that it is sending a warship from the Baltic Sea Fleet to Syria and it also dismissed reports of upcoming foreign military exercises in the Middle Eastern country, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.

Media reports said the Kaliningrad, a Ropucha II Class Large Landing Ship, was en route to the Mediterranean and the Syrian port of Tartus.

â€œThe only right thing about these reports is that the Kaliningrad is indeed part of the Baltic Sea Fleet,â€ a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

â€œThe Kaliningrad is currently taking part in the Celtic Week [festival] and will soon return to its home port,â€ he said.

â€œThere are no plans for it to participate in any long-range deployments.â€

Commenting on reports about large-scale international exercises in Syria with the participation of Russia, the Defense Ministry official dismissed them as an attempt to â€œfurther escalate the situation in Syria.â€