The Russian navy fired cruise missiles at Islamic State targets in Syria on Tuesday, in what Russian President Vladimir Putin called an “important strategic victory” in the effort to end the three-year long siege of a capital city.
The operation allowed the Syrian army to break through the blockade that jihadists have maintained around the eastern Syrian provincial capital of Deir ez-Zor, according to the Russian defense ministry.
ABC News reported that a Kremlin spokesman says President Putin sent his congratulations to Syrian President Bashar Assad after breaching the ISIS blockade.
The Russian frigate Admiral Essen launched Kalibr cruise missiles from the Mediterranean, destroying, command and communications posts, ammunition depots, a facility to repair armored vehicles, and a large group of militants, the ministry said, Reuters reported.