Russia strikes as Syrian rebels storm Aleppo, backs President Bashar al-Assad

Russia’s Defence Ministry announced that its air force had carried out strikes on Syrian rebels in support of the country’s army, according to Russian news agencies on Saturday. The strikes were launched amid an advance by forces opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The attacks, which supported Assad, a key ally of Moscow, followed what was the most daring rebel assault in years, in a civil war where frontlines had largely remained frozen since 2020.

The state-run Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of the Enemy Parties in Syria reported that the missile and bomb strikes targeted “militant concentrations, command posts, depots, and artillery positions” in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. It further claimed that around 300 rebel fighters had been killed in the strikes.