Syria crisis: Russia to send ships to Mediterranean, says news agency

Russia is to send an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the Mediterranean, according to Russian news agency Interfax. An armed forces source has reportedly confirmed the planned deployment. Russia, a major ally of Syria, is against any military intervention in the country; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he believes it would seriously destabilize the region. The country has started to pull its citizens out of Syria as the likely-hood of military action increases - it flew 89 people out of the country on Tuesday night and 28 more people out on Wednesday morning. The report from Interfax news agency comes as President Obama has spoken about military intervention. He said that any strike on Syria would be to "send a shot across the bow" to deter furture chemical weapons attacks. He added that the United States had concluded that the Syrian government carried out the large-scale chemical weapons attacks against civilians last week, saying they did not believe the rebel-opposition possessed chemical weapons or the means to deliver them. U.N weapons inspectors are still in the country investigating the alleged usage of the weapons, and secretary-general Ban Ki Moon has said the team will leave by Saturday morning.