Russia launches ‘large-scale’ operation in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday launched a “large-scale” operation against “terrorists” in the Syrian city of Idlib and Homs, Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu said.

Shoygu, made the statement during a meeting with representatives of defence ministry and defence industry held by Putin.

“Today, at 10:30 and at 11:00, we started a large-scale operation to deliver massive fire on the positions of the Islamic State and Jabhat Al-Nusra in the provinces of Idlib and Homs,” the Russian news website TASS reported Shoygu saying, in regards to Daesh.

No information was given about how long the operation would continue, but Shoygu said that the frigate Admiral Grigorovich has already launched Kalibr cruise missiles, adding that the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is taking part in combat operation for the first time in history.

According to the news website, Shoygu said that Russian Sukhoi Su-33 combat planes have started their operation from on board Admiral Kuznetsov.