Provocations by US-trained militants groups using chemical weapons will serve as a pretext for the United States to attack Syria, and Moscow has seen corresponding preparatory moves, including the formation of naval strike groups, the Russian General Staff has said. “We note the evidence of preparation for possible attacks. Strike groups of naval carriers with cruise missiles are being formed... 

Russian intelligence has spotted up to 12,000 tankers and trucks on the Turkish-Iraqi border, the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces has reported. “The [aerial] imagery was made in the vicinity of Zakho (a city in Iraqi Kurdistan), there were 11,775 tankers and trucks on both sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border,” Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy told journalists on Friday. “It must be...