Russia has announced it will hold a week-long military drill in the Mediterranean off the coast of Syria, as the UN warned a “perfect storm” was brewing in the battle for the country’s last rebel stronghold. Moscow’s defence ministry said it will deploy 25 ships, including a Marshall Ustinov missile cruiser, and 30 jets for the exercises, which would focus on anti-air and anti-submarine defence. The armada is the biggest task force sent by President Vladimir Putin’s government since Russia’s intervention in the Syrian conflict in 2015. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the drills were justified by the situation around the Idlib, the northwestern province where Syrian and allied Russian forces are expected to soon launch an offensive. "The situation in Syria has the significant potential of exacerbating,” Mr Peskov said. “Nothing good can come out of this terrorist hotbed that formed there, if no one acts. So tightened security measures are totally justified and reasonable.” Syrian army soldier stands at a check-point as Russian military police vehicle, right, passes by near the village of Almajdiyeh, Syria, Credit: AP The manoeuvring in the Mediterranean came as Russia accused Britain and the US of preparing a “false-flag” chemical attack in Idlib to frame the Syrian government and justify a a Western attack on its forces. Russian embassies and a network of Kremlin-owned media outlets have been pushing stories of potential chemical attacks as part of a large-scale disinformation campaign. The Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets said the buildup was connected to the prospect of an attack by the US, which last week sent guided-missile destroyer USS Ross to the eastern Mediterranean. Nato has expressed concern about the naval manoeuvering. Civil defense members carry out search and rescue works after the airstrikes in Idlib province Credit: Anadolu "We will not speculate on the intention of the Russian fleet, but it is important that all actors in the region exercise restraint and refrain from worsening an already disastrous humanitarian situation in Syria," said Oana Lungescu, Nato’s chief spokeswoman. Government forces have been massing around Idlib for days and looked poised to launch what could be the last major battle of the seven-year civil war. Some 2.7 million people are living in Idlib under the control of several thousand jihadists and other more moderate rebels. A major military operation would pose a particular humanitarian nightmare because there is no opposition territory left in Syria where people could be evacuated to and the country’s border with Turkey has been closed. 'There is a perfect storm based on warnings, counter-warnings (from the US and Russia)," said Staffan de Mistura, UN envoy to Syria. "There is no other Idlib," he added, stressing the need to ensure civilians can evacuate to nearby areas under government control, with guarantees their rights will be respected once they get there. "It would be a tragic irony frankly if at almost the end of… a territorial war inside Syria, we would be witnessing the most horrific tragedy to the largest number of civilians." Mr de Mistura offered to personally travel to Idlib to help ensure civilians can leave through a humanitarian corridor, though did not say to which safe area they would lead.  Syrian onlookers gather around rescue teams clearing the rubble in the morning of April 10, 2018 at the site of an explosion in the northwestern city of Idlib.  Credit: AFP The envoy said there were an estimated 10,000 al-Qaeda and affiliated fighters in Idlib, along with their families. The most powerful of them, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), appeared to leave the door open to a negotiated settlement on Thursday during last-ditch talks. "We in HTS are striving to find an effective solution in the liberated Syrian north that would protect our people from a possible offensive by the criminal regime and its allies," read a statement published on its propaganda agency Ibaa. Turkey, which backs the Syrian opposition, has been in talks with Russia and Iran to prevent an offensive, which it fears would send millions more refugees its way. Russia, in return, has demanded that Ankara remove all al-Qaeda elements, such as HTS, before any deal is made. While Turkey actively sponsors rebel forces in Idlib, its influence over HTS is less clear and experts warned the chances of success were slim.

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