Russian state TV on Friday showed Russian air force ground crew writing “For Ours!” and “For Paris!” on bombs being attached to Russian warplanes.
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Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said 18 long-range missiles were launched on seven IS targets in the Raqqa, Idlib and Aleppo provinces on 20 November.
Russia continues to beef up their frequency and bombing, destroying oil facilities and tankers controlled by ISIS, thus cutting into their income, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Iraq closed its northern airspace to commercial flights yesterday for at least two days because of military traffic from Russia’s air campaign in neighbouring Syria, a spokesman for Erbil International Airport said.
The Russian strongman has ordered his military not to let up in their raids as ISIS continues to be degraded by a sustained aerial bombardment.
The Kremlin has used the air campaign in Syria to showcase an array of new weapons, including state-of-the art cruise missiles.
The developments come just days after Russian intelligence officials confirmed that a bomb planted in the Russian Metrojet airliner, which was flying from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheik to Moscow on October 31, downed the plane and killed all 224 people on board, majority Russian tourists.
An investigation by British newspaper The Financial Times last month estimated the jihadists reap some Dollars 1.5 million a day from oil, based on the price of USD 45 a barrel.
After the carnage in Paris which declared the lives of 130 people at the hands of ISIS, Putin and French Head of state Francois Hollande consented to ensure closer contact and control of their countries’ operations in Syria.
The province and most of the provincial capital is held by Islamic State militants.
“It was stressed that the Russian side’s actions were not a fight against terror, but they bombed civilian Turkmen villages and this could lead to serious consequences”, the foreign ministry said.
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The Russian aviation grouping comprises more than 50 aircraft and helicopters, including the Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-24M bombers, Su-25 attack aircraft, Su-30SM fighters and Mil Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters.
