Russia’s foreign ministry has complained of a “strange hysteria” over Moscow’s actions in Syria, as western countries expressed concerns over apparent preparations for military intervention.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that “Russia has never made a secret of its military-technical cooperation with Syria” and confirmed that “Russian military specialists are in Syria to help them master the weapons being supplied”. She said there was nothing out of the ordinary about their presence.

However, there have been a number of signs of more intensive Russian activity in Syria in recent weeks, including reported sightings of Russian jets and combat vehicles, claims of increased weapons deliveries, and even reports that prefabricated housing was being erected to pave the way for a major military presence.

A number of photographs have been posted to social media networks from Tartus in eastern Syria by men who appear to be Russian contract soldiers.



The Tartus naval base, which Russia has maintained since the 1970s, was previously a small and low-significance maintenance outpost, but has seen increased activity recently.

The reports of growing Russian military activity in Syria were troubling, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday. “I am concerned about reports about increased Russian military presence in Syria,” Stoltenberg said. “That will not contribute to solving the conflict.”

Russia has insisted there is nothing out of the ordinary about the military assistance to the country, and Syrian government officials have also been playing down recent reports about an enhanced Russian military role, but insisting that Moscow remains a supportive ally.

“Russian experts are always present but in the last year they have been present to a greater degree,” a Syrian official told Reuters. “All aspects of the relationship are currently being developed, including the military one.”

President Bashar al-Assad did not comment on the question when it was raised by Russian journalists who interviewed him in Damascus on Sunday. But on the diplomatic front, western officials in fact say they detect signs of greater readiness by Moscow to push for a negotiated solution to the Syrian crisis – in part because of its growing concerns about the threat from Islamic State.

Putin is due to travel to the UN general assembly for the first time in a decade later this month, and some analysts speculate he may try to use the current concert over Isis and the refugee crisis to call for an international coalition against terrorism, involving Russia.



“If additional measures in the interests of boosting anti-terrorism efforts are required on our part, this issue will be considered accordingly, but exclusively on the basis of international law and Russian legislature,” Zakharova said.

Moscow denounced as “international boorishness” a move by Nato member Bulgaria to deny overflight rights to Russian planes travelling to Syria. Moscow says the planes contain humanitarian aid.

On Wednesday Iran granted permission for Russian planes to overfly its territory on their way to Syria.

“We’ve indicated that the United States is concerned by reports that Russia may have deployed additional military personnel and aircraft to Syria,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Tuesday.



Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg says the organisation is increasingly worried about Russian military activity in Syria. Guardian

On Saturday, the US State Department announced that the secretary of state, John Kerry, had spoken by telephone to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and warned against expanding Russian military assistance to Syria.



Kerry said the moves risked further inflaming the conflict and worsening the current refugee crisis, the State Department said.

But Russia’s role in Syria is being eclipsed to some extent by Iran’s. In recent months Tehran has pushed Assad to follow a policy of retrenchment, accepting that parts of the country are now lost to his enemies and that he should consolidate his control over the area around Damascus and a strip running through Homs to the Mediterranean coast.

On Wednesday, Syrian state TV reported that insurgents led by Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, had captured an airbase after a two-year siege, leaving almost the entire northern province of Idlib free of government forces.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said insurgents had captured the Abu Zuhour base under the cover of the severe sandstorm that has raged across the country for the previous three days.



Insurgents now control nearly the entire province, except for the predominantly Shia villages of Foua and Kfarya, which are in the hands of pro-government militia.

Fighting is continuing meanwhile for Zabadani, north-west of Damascus, a strategic position for Assad’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah. Talks on a ceasefire there have included a proposal that the town’s defenders – from the Sunni Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham – be exchanged for the Shias of the two Idlib villages. This proposal is seen by some observers as introducing an explicitly sectarian element into the Syrian conflict.

