GETTY Vladimir Putin launched airstrikes in September

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The sensational claim comes from Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy, a Russian defence chief, who said more than 150 cities and villages had been liberated from terrorists in Syria in recent weeks. He said: ”A total of 311 sorties have been made over the first 10 days of 2016 during which strikes were delivered at 1,097 facilities.”

The jets hit oil facilities, infrastructure and equipment used by militants in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Hasakeh, Deraa and Raqqa. Mr Rudskoy added: "In December 2015, militants were driven from 134 cities and towns and from 19 settlements, with more in the first days of the new year.”

ISIS fighters Fri, March 25, 2016 Iraq and Syrian jihadists, including the Paris and Brussels attacks suspects. Play slideshow PH 1 of 47 Belgian national Salah Abdeslam who masterminded the Paris attacks