According to Shoigu, Russian warplanes have flown 522 sorties and destroyed over 800 targets over the last four days.
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At least 36 people were killed Friday in air strikes by Russian and Syrian jets on Islamic State-controlled Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said, describing them as the heaviest in the region since the start of the war.
The Russians released video of their ships firing cruise missiles toward ISIS targets in Syria, and that video can be viewed above, on this page, courtesy of The Guardian newspaper.
Russian television broadcast a video in which a man is seen scrawling “For our people!” and “For Paris!” in black pen on aerial bombs minutes before a warplane is set to take off from the country’s airbase in Syria.
Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin Friday that Russian warplanes have destroyed 15 oil facilities in Syria and 525 trucks carrying oil in bombing this week.
The directors of Arbil and Sulaimaniyah airports both confirmed that flights had been suspended, mentioning the danger of Russian missiles but not the bombers referred to in the Civil Aviation Authority’s statement. “All the targets were hit”, Shoigu said.
Putin has discussed cooperating on fighting ISIS during his meetings with President Barack Obama and other Western leaders at the sidelines of the Group of 20 rich and developing nations in Turkey this week.
The resolution, which does not provide a legal basis for military action, urges those countries who can to “take all necessary measures, in compliance with global law… on the territory under the control of ISIL… in Syria and Iraq”. But whether he was genuinely honest in that promise has not yet been clear.
This year Syrian government forces have reclaimed portions of that province, about 300 miles northeast of Damascus, the capital city of Syria.
Moscow also uses bombers from Russian air bases to launch air strikes it says were requested by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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Russian armed forces have intensified strikes against oil-producing and refining facilities of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
