How Russian ship escorts US destroyer; Syrian regime airstrikes in Idlib; 22 killed by rebel fighters in Congo

Russian warship tracks movements of US Navy destroyer in Black Sea

A Russian Black Sea Fleet ship has begun escorting the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross, which has entered the Black Sea’s southwestern part, a spokesman for the National Defense Management Center, a Russian defense ministry division, said on Sunday.

“The Vyshny Volochek fast attack guided missile craft is controlling the US ship’s movements,” the spokesman said.

A month ago, The Admiral Essen frigate alongside the Vyshny Volochek and Orekhovo-Zuyevo small missile ships tracked movements of the US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) that entered the southern part of the Black Sea.

Fighter jets of the Syrian regime struck a town in northwestern Syria on Sunday, killing a child and wounding seven people, according to the opposition White Helmets civil defense agency, Anadolu Agency reports.

Warplanes hit a bakery in the town of Maarsurin in Idlib province, which falls within a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are explicitly prohibited, the agency said.

Regime planes carried another attack in the town, killing a child and wounding seven people.

On 7 December, the Bashar al-Assad regime and its ally Russia struck a marketplace in Idlib, leaving 19 people dead.

Since Moscow and Ankara reached a deal in September 2018, over 1,300 civilians have been killed in the Idlib de-escalation zone.Over a million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border following intense attacks.

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