Russian Federation airstrikes ISIS command centers in Syria

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.

Another bomb, seen in a video released today by the Russian Defence Ministry, bears the message “For our guys”.

Russia’s air force flew 394 sorties and hit 731 targets in Syria in the last three days, Interfax news agency cited the head of the Russian air group in Syria as saying on Friday.

Flights to and from two northern Iraqi airports were suspended for 48 hours beginning on Monday due to danger posed by Russian cruise missiles heading for neighboring Syria, officials said.

The Russian interior ministry’s video of a small, fluffy German Shepherd puppy playing ball with a Russian policeman contrasts sharply with the macho image President Vladimir Putin has cultivated.

In those four days alone, Shoigu said, Russia has unleashed 101 high-tech cruise missiles – fired from aircraft as well as from Russian warships in the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas.

It has previously targeted oil installations under the control of Islamic State and said it aimed to cut the group’s main revenue stream.

Russian security services have killed 11 Islamist militants who had been helping smuggle fighters across borders to Syria to join Islamic State, the country’s anti-terrorism committee said.

IS said its jihadists based in Sinai brought down a Russian Metrojet airliner in Egypt last month. An worldwide coalition led by the United States has been conducting air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.

At least eight people were killed in at least 50 air strikes in the eastern Deir Ezzor province yesterday, during which dozens of oil tankers were destroyed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It was not clear when this missile strike was done.

After the carnage in Paris which claimed the lives of 130 people Putin and French President Francois Hollande agreed to “ensure closer contact and coordination” in their countries’ operations in Syria.

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.