Turkey has sent reinforcements to the last rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria, while Russia stepped up airstrikes on the area on Sunday. Reports about this, received from sources of sources, came three days before the sources of the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Russian planes were reported to have bombed villages around Afrin on Sunday. Air strikes on towns and villages controlled by Turkish-backed rebels have intensified over the past week, they said.

Rebel sources were injured when the Russians dropped bombs. Information about this came from observers who record the appearance of fighters.

The Russian bombing campaign spread to the Jabal Zawiya area in Idlib province in the northwest towards the border with Turkey. At the same time, the shelling was conducted from the outposts of the Syrian army with the support of militias supported by Iran.

“The Russian escalation intensified this week, starting in Idlib province and now extending as far north as Aleppo along the border,” Major Yousef Hamoud, a spokesman for the National Army, the main rebel force backed by Turkey, told Reuters.

The escalation came days before the meeting between Presidents Erdogan and Putin in Sochi, during which they will discuss last year’s agreement that ended the offensive of the previous army, which forced about a million people in Idlib to flee their homes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday in New York that implementation is progressing slowly. He also said that Ankara’s commitment to stop the militants will be announced at the Sochi summit.

The ceasefire reached by Moscow and Ankara consolidated the significant gains of the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militias, but a massive Turkish deployment in Idlib province halted further Russian-led offensive operations.

Signaling its determination to deter any new offensive to capture this bastion, Turkey has strengthened dozens of bases hosting thousands of troops in the past two weeks, military commanders, military commanders, military commanders of the Turkish army said.

“The Turkish army is in a combat position, all military forces, and armored vehicles, combat and equipment are arriving there,” Hamoud added.

The military reported that a large Turkish military convoy with missile launchers and tanks spotted the Syrian border at night and moved towards the Jabal Zawiya area, where Turkish bases are located.

Since 2016, the Turkish military has conducted several operations that have changed the course of the Syrian conflict in the north of the country.