Russia has stepped up naval training exercises off the Syrian coast and is preparing to hold more drills, according to several sources yesterday.

Such behaviour likely to fuel US assertions that Moscow is building up its forces in the Mediterranean region.

A squadron of five Russian naval ships, equipped with guided missiles, set off to conduct manoeuvres in Syrian territorial waters, including possibly firing rockets, a source close to the Russian navy said yesterday.

“They will train to repulse an attack from the air and to defend the coast, which means firing artillery and testing short-range air defence systems, “ the source said, adding that the exercise had been agreed with the Syrian government.

Moscow warns Washington over unintended incidents

News of the drill coincided with calls from Russia for Washington to restart direct military-to-military cooperation in order to avert “unintended incidents” near Syria.

Sources in the United States, Israel and Lebanon have said that Russian soldiers have joined combat operations on Syrian soil or were preparing to do so.

However, Russia has denied that, saying that its military cooperation with Damascus is long-standing and based on long-term contracts for the supply of arms.

Meanwhile, the Russian navy has, in fact, stepped up its activity near Syria in recent months, holding more exercises in the Mediterranean sea since May than during the whole of 2014, according to the Russian defence ministry.

“We have been seeing a lot of Russian activity in the area this year,” a Cypriot source, who monitors naval and aerial activity, said yesterday.

Russia, on September 3, gave notice of several rounds of navy drills with rocket firing tests in the sea near the Syrian city of Tartous, where it has a naval facility, and near Latakia, from September 8 to October 7, according to the Cypriot aviation authorities and international governmental databases of notices for airmen (NOTAM).

The guided missile cruiser Moskva from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which has taken part in the most recent drill held in the Mediterranean sea, off Syria.

That, it said, meant that three flight paths would have to be briefly closed.Russia’s defence ministry said the navy held drills in the Mediterranean in May, June and August.

The guided missile cruiser Moskva, five warships and three supply ships from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet had also taken part in the most recent exercises, it added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that the Russian navy exercises in Mediterranean were all part of a routine.

“It’s a well-known fact. They are being held in full accordance with international law,” he told journalists and news reporters.

Meanwhile a spokesman for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, based in Crimea, refused to comment on any of the ongoing military exercises off the Syrian coast.