Russia says 4 planes hit Nusra positions in Syria’s Idlib province

PanARMENIAN.Net - On Tuesday, September 4 night, Russia's Hmeymim Airbase in Syria destroyed two militant drones with surface-to-air missiles, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, according to Sputnik International.

"On the 4th of September, at night, the anti-aircraft weapons of Hmeimim Airbase destroyed two terrorist assault UAVs. In total, last month, 47 terrorist unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed… in the area of Russia's Hmeymim Airbase," Konashenkov told reporters.

"On the same day [September 4], four planes from the Russian air unit deployed at the Hmeymim Airbase carried out strikes on Nusra Front* terrorist group targets in Idlib province with precision-guided munitions," Konashenkov said.

According to the spokesman, the strikes were carried out on the terrorists' storage facilities where they kept drones, located outside settlements, as well as "detected sites where assault drones were launched to carry out terrorist attacks on Russia's Hmeymim Airbase and settlements in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama."

"The Russian aircraft carried out all strikes solely on the identified terrorist targets, as confirmed through several channels, located far from settlements," Konashenkov said.

He added that two Su-34 jets had also destroyed a workshop where terrorists assembled drones and a warehouse of explosives for them.

Konashenkov noted that the multipurpose Su-35S fighter, equipped with high-precision ammunition, also destroyed a warehouse in which the man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) of terrorists were stored. Russia, alongside Iran and Turkey, is a guarantor of the ceasefire in Syria. Moscow has also been assisting Damascus both through supporting the struggle against terrorist groups and providing humanitarian aid to the residents of the crisis-torn country.

Syria has been devastated by years of violent military conflict, with government forces fighting multiple militant and terrorist groups.