The Russians have amped up their attacks on Islamic State targets in Syria by introducing long range strategic bombers capable of launching cruise missiles. Russian warplanes have carried out 226 air attacks in the last two days.
Russia has upped its game in Syria as its air force has now introduced their long range bombers into the strategic airstrike mix. The Russians, who have been bombing Islamic State targets inside Syria since the end of September, have now effectively ramped up the potential destruction.
Thursday marked the third day in a row that Russian bombers have struck Islamic States targets deep inside Syria, according to The New York Times. The introduction of the strategic bombers, as well as the increased airstrikes, were ordered by President Vladimir Putin of Russia. This is in response to Russian intelligence confirming that an Islamic State bomb took down the Russian Metrojet that recently crashed in the Sinai desert, killing all 224 people on board.
The Russian bombers have now joined Russian fighter planes in the battle against the Islamic State in Syria. The Russians have been supporting the deposed Syrian President Assad in this fight and looks to destroy the Islamic State once and for all. The Russians are allied along with Assad’s Syrian army as well as soldiers from Iraq and Hezbollah.
A coalition led by the U.S. is also working for the destruction of the Islamic State, but are not in favor of Assad returning to power. The U.S. and its coalition members, including France, are looking for a government founded on a political solution that doesn’t include Assad’s return.
In the last two days alone Russian warplanes have carried out 226 airstrikes against Islamic State positions. The Tu-95 strategic bombers launched 12 cruise missiles into the Islamic State capital at Idlib on Thursday. They looked to destroy the city as well as a supply and fuel depot and a manufacturing facility dedicated toward producing explosives.
Another six Russian bombers made six attacks on the city of Raqqa on Thursday. The Russians said that the attacks took out an oil refinery, a mortar factory, and an ammunition depot. The Russians have been attacking the Islamic State’s oil supplies of late and have been launching airstrikes against refineries as well as oil trucks. The Russians claim to have destroyed over 500 oil trucks in the last couple of days.
