Russian MoD: Russian Air Force used cruise missiles against ISIS targets in Syria
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that strategic missile carriers from the Russian Aerospace Forces, or Vozdushno-Kosmicheskiye Sily (VKS), attacked infrastructure of the ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations on the territory of Syria with cruise missiles.
The Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation specified that launches of the air-based cruise missiles were made from the area above the Mediterranean Sea. The planes took off from one of the airports in the territory of the Russian Federation and, having made two in-flight refueling stops, travelled more than 11,000 km. The route of the missile carriers ran over the waters of the northern seas and eastern Atlantic.
The Ministry stated that after the missile strike, Russian VKS planes returned to their home airbase. The attacks also involved Su-33 ship-based fighters from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier and aircraft strikes from the Khmeimim air base.
The air escort of the strategic missile planes was performed by Su-30 fighter aircraft. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the targets were terrorist control points, weapons and ammunition warehouses, military vehicle depots and workshops producing weapons. The Ministry states that the coordinates of all the targets have been checked and confirmed by several intelligence sources. The results of the strikes were also controlled by unmanned aerial vehicles.