Russian Federation steps up bombardment on Islamic State

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. All 224 people aboard the plane, mostly Russian tourists, were killed.

In a video posted online by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, the Russian words “За Парижа” – or “for Paris” in English – are written on what appears to be bombs on a Russian jet in Syria.

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.

He added that a strike with multiple cruise missiles in the province of Deir ez-Zor had killed more than 600 militants.

Over the past four days, Russian air forces have conducted 522 sorties, deploying more than 100 cruise missiles and 1,400 tons of bombs of various types, the minister stated.

Putin hailed the military’s performance, but added that “there is still a lot of work to do … to rid Syria of militants and terrorists and protect Russian Federation from possible terror attacks”.

In a related context, the kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Moscow is not planning for a land operation in Syria.

Moscow on 17 November stepped up the intensity of its activity in Syria, for the first time employing Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers.

Officials at the airport in the Lebanese capital of Beirut said the airport will close for three days as of Friday midnight due to Russian military drills in the Mediterranean Sea.

On Thursday, the chief of the Russian military General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, had a phone call with his French counterpart to discuss co-operation in the fight against the IS.