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A Russian lieutenant general, Valery Asapov, is killed by mortar fire from ISIL militants near the city of Deir ez-Zor, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. Asapov has been described as one of the senior Russian military advisers in Syria.
2017-09-24

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) suspends combat missions against ISIL over Syria, following Russia's threat that it would treat any aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition flying west of the Euphrates as a potential target.
2017-06-20

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu says Turkey's cooperation with Russia in combating the Islamic State in Syria does not include Russia's use of its Incirlik Air Base, which some have interpreted from his comments yesterday.
2016-07-4

Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of Russia, says that Russia's bombing campaign will continue until terrorist organisations like ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra are defeated; the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee has voiced outrage at an ongoing government offensive backed by Russian air power and called for a halt to air strikes against civilians, among other demands.
2016-02-3

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he hopes nuclear warheads will not be needed to deal with terrorists, after Russia launched cruise missiles at Islamic State positions in Syria from one of its Kilo-class submarines in the Mediterranean.
2015-12-9

The Associated Press reports that Russia's crackdown on Muslims is fueling their exodus to ISIS. For example, Russia's southernmost republic of Dagestan keeps devout Muslims under surveillance, routinely raids their homes, and hauls them to police stations to give DNA samples and fingerprints. Regional police say nearly a third of the estimated 3,000 Russians who are believed to have gone to fight alongside IS militants in Syria are from Dagestan. The AP added, "Few efforts are made by Russian authorities to stop young men from leaving."
2015-11-25

Russian warships launch cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant positions in Syria's eastern Deir ez-Zor. Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu, reported over 600 terrorists were killed in the strikes. Video footage also emerged of Russian ground crew servicemen writing the words "For Paris" on bombs to be dropped on ISIL targets in a show of solidarity with France in the wake of the November 13 terror attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris.
2015-11-20

The Russian military launches cruise missile strikes from the Mediterranean on ISIS positions in Al-Raqqah, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's de facto capital in Syria, Aleppo, and Idlib. A U.S. official confirms that Russia has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to escalate his military campaign in Syria after it was confirmed that a bomb brought down Metrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
2015-11-17

Syrian troops and allied militia backed by a fresh wave of Russian airstrikes and naval cruise missiles attacked rebel forces as the government extended an offensive to recapture territory in central and northwestern Syria.
2015-10-8

Russian airstrikes destroy the main weapons depots of a U.S.-trained rebel group, Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, in Syria's Aleppo province. Last week, Russian raids hit Liwa sites in western and northern Syria, areas where the Islamic State group has no significant presence.
2015-10-7