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A flotilla of Russian warships arrived off the coast of Syria Saturday as part of plans for a large-scale land and sea assault on Aleppo.

The eight-strong battle group was led by Moscow’s only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, and accompanied by a nuclear-powered missile cruiser.

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Sergei Artamonov, commander of the Kuznetsov, told Russia-1 television via video link yesterday that aircraft were already taking off from the ship’s deck for reconnaissance flights.

“Flights are being carried out from the deck… they are working on co-ordination with the shore port,” he said.

Asked whether foreign aircraft were flying over the ships, Vladislav Malakhovsky, commander of the Peter the Great missile cruiser, said: “They are afraid to come closer than 50 kilometres away, realizing very well how powerful the nuclear cruiser is.”

The warships will be deployed to the Mediterranean for at least six months, the pro-government Syrian website al-Masdar News quoted a military source.