BEIRUT: A Hezbollah delegation arrived in Moscow Wednesday on the party’s first official visit to the country.

The visit comes as reports have emerged that Hezbollah is preparing for a possible Israeli attack on Lebanon.

Russia has been accused in the past, including during the 2006 war with Israel, of indirectly arming Hezbollah via weapons sales to Syria.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported Wednesday that Hezbollah has been conducting night patrols in the highlands of the eastern and western sectors of south Lebanon for fear of swift Israeli landings.

The visit also comes as Hezbollah feels repercussions from its defense of Syria in its bloody crackdown on protesters.

Both Russia and Hezbollah have opposed Western intervention in Syria as the uprising continues there.

The party’s reputation among the Syrian people has been eroded because of its support for the Assad government, according to analysts.

Al-Joumhouria also reported that Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has conveyed to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt that his image had been damaged and shaken in some parts of Syria.

The three-man delegation, headed by Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad, is scheduled to meet Russian officials for talks on developments in Lebanon and the region, a Hezbollah source told The Daily Star.

The source said discussions will also touch on bilateral ties and issues of common interest.

Hezbollah said the visit, was in response to an invitation by Russia’s Parliament.

Raad is accompanied by Hezbollah MPs Hassan Fadlallah and Nawwar Sahli.

As-Safir newspaper said the Hezbollah delegation will reiterate the resistance’s role in protecting Lebanon.

Hezbollah will also raise the issue of ongoing pressure exerted from the West which it says strikes at the resistance with the aim of exerting power in the region and thereby controlling natural resources.