INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russias army said Tuesday it had actually fired hypersonic rockets throughout naval and Air Force drills in the eastern Mediterranean that
come as its ally Syria loses ground to Islamist rebels.The military stated the number of Russian troops stationed in the region had been
increased to participate in the exercises.Russia has been performing air strikes in recent days to try to counter a rebel offensive that
has actually seen President Bashar al-Assads forces lose the 2nd city of Aleppo.Moscow has actually been a key ally of Assad because the
Syrian civil war started in 2011
On 3 December, during an exercise to test the combined activities of Russian Navy and Air Force troop groups, accuracy sea-based rockets
were released in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, Russias Defense Ministry stated in a post on Telegram.Russian vessels
test-fired hypersonic Zirkon rockets and a Kalibr cruise rocket, the ministry added.An Onyx cruise missile was released from a designated
location on the Mediterranean coast, it added.Russia has a naval base in Syria at Tartus but the statement did not say where the drills
In the course of preparing for the exercise, the Russian Armed Forces soldiers organizing in the eastern Mediterranean was increased, the
ministry added.More than 1,000 forces, 10 vessels and 24 aircraft were participating in the drills, it said.The ministry released images
showing the launch of numerous missiles from ships and land and pictures of a target in open water being struck and exploding.
