Russia Bombs Syria Using Jets, Missiles From Naval Strike Force
- Aircraft carrier used for first time in attacks, Shoigu says
- Pause on Aleppo attacks remains in effect, Kremlin says
The Admiral Kuznetsov carrier seen in the Barents Sea, Russia in 2014.
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Russia said its air force started a major offensive in Syria, involving jets and missiles launched from a naval task force sent to the Mediterranean to support attacks on militants.
Operations began in the Syrian provinces of Idlib and Homs against Islamic State and the al-Qaeda spinoff Jabhat al-Nusra, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin at a meeting Tuesday in Russia’s Sochi. “We have been gathering very detailed intelligence” about targets that include militants’ training centers and “factories for producing quite serious weapons of mass destruction,” Shoigu said.