Russian military and navy officials announced on Friday that their warships carried out comprehensive anti-war exercises in the Mediterranean, the Express website reported.
The Express site described the exercises as "maneuvers of the Third World War", the same description of the exercises carried out by NATO, "NATO", a few days ago.
The Russian frigates "Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen" carried out maneuvers near the Syrian coastal waters. The maneuvers come as tensions between Russia and the United States, which seek to impose influence in the Middle East, escalate.
Russia said earlier it had spotted reinforcements by Washington for its forces in the Middle East in preparation for a possible strike against the Syrian regime.
The Russian news agency TASS reported that the Russian navy had deployed cruise launchers with cruise missiles as part of the exercises.
The frigates were armed with eight Caliber-NK bombers capable of striking targets at a distance of 2,600 kilometers, the sources said.
The warships, which have space for helicopter take-off and landing, are equipped with air defense guns and systems for torpedo pipes.
The newspaper "Izvestia", Russia has collected the largest maritime group in the Mediterranean since 2015.
