Russia has moved at least 11 navy ships deployed in Syria out to sea in the event of a U.S. military strike, which appears to be imminent in the wake of an exchange of threats between President Trump and Russian officials.
Trump replied early Wednesday to a Russian threat to shoot down any U.S. missiles in Syria with a tweet: “Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’”
The threatened military strike is a response to an alleged chemical attack last week on civilians blamed on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Israel-based commercial organization ImageSat International provided satellite images to Fox News showing 11 Russian naval craft in the port of Tartus have departed, leaving only a single submarine.
The Syrian army also is evacuating military bases and transferring aircraft to bases