Russia sends intelligence ship to Syria coast

MOSCOW: Russia has sent a reconnaissance vessel from its Black Sea fleet to the coast off Syria, a report said Monday, as Moscow anxiously watches Western plans for military action against the Damascus regime, a report said Monday.

The SSV-201 intelligence ship Priazovye on Sunday evening started its voyage "to the appointed region of military service in the eastern Mediterranean," a military source told the Interfax news agency.

"The crew have the mission... of collecting operative information in the region of an escalating conflict," it added.