„Russian warships off the coast of Norway are carrying fighter bombers that are likely to reinforce a final assault on the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo in two weeks, a senior NATO diplomat said on Wednesday, citing Western intelligence. The fleet passed by the Norwegian city of Bergen on Wednesday, the diplomat said, while Russian media has said it will move through the English Channel, past Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea to the Syrian coast.
‚They are deploying all of the Northern fleet and much of the Baltic fleet in the largest surface deployment since the end of the Cold War,‘ the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. ‚This is not a friendly port call. In two weeks, we will see a crescendo of air attacks on Aleppo as part of Russia’s strategy to declare victory there,‘ the diplomat said. Photos of the vessels have been released by the Norwegian military, taken on Monday. A Norwegian newspaper quoted the head of the Norwegian military intelligence service saying the ships involved ‚will probably play a role in the deciding battle for Aleppo.‘“
(Bericht in der Jerusalem Post: „Russian naval deployment en route to escalate Aleppo destruction“)
