DAMASCUS, SYRIA (3: 00 P.M.) – Up to 150 Russian troops have arrived at the northern Kurdish city of Afrin as the Turkish military declared full-scale military campaign against the Kurdish bastion.

The arrival of reinforcements was coincided with a visit paid by a number of Russian officers to the “Graveyard of Martyrs” which commemorates the Kurdish fighters killed during battles against the Turkish-backed rebels in northern Aleppo.

This comes as Turkey declared a new offensive against the Kurdish forces in northern Syria in order to connect its proxies in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

Russian has concluded an agreement with the Kurds to set up a military base in Afrin and train YPG fighters on anti-terror combat.