Russia fires cruise missiles at Islamic State targets from Mediterranean

MOSCOW - Reuters

A Russian warship and submarine have fired four cruise missiles from the Mediterranean at Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets near the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Defense Ministry said on May 31.
.
Russia had warned the United States, Turkey and Israel before launching the missiles, the ministry said.

The strike, which Russian news agencies said was the first of its kind since November, was carried out by the frigate “Admiral Essen” and the submarine “Krasnodar,” and targeted militants and equipment in an area east of Palmyra.

The defense ministry said the hardware and forces struck had previously been deployed by ISIL in Raqqa.
“All targets were destroyed,” it said in a statement.

It did not say when the strike took place, but Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had personally told President Vladimir Putin about the military action late on May 30.

The last time Russia fired Kalibr cruise missiles from its ships at militant targets in Syria was in November last year, the RIA news agency said.