Russia has involved ten reconnaissance satellites to provide support for its operation against terrorists in Syria

Read also Russia involves 10 reconnaissance satellites in Syria operation — General Staff

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Russia has intensified all types of intelligence in the Middle East region, including space reconnaissance, the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, Col. Gen. Andrey Kartapolov, said Wednesday. "All strikes are delivered by Russian aircraft at previously reconnoitered targets. In order to increase the operational efficiency of terrorist organizations’ facilities’ disclosure and precision of determination of their coordinates, we have enhanced all types of reconnaissance in the Middle East region, including space reconnaissance," Kartapolov told journalists. He said this makes it possible to discover new targets of militants and hit them in real time. Russia’s efforts to fight terrorists in Syria Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, which are banned in Russia, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The air group comprises over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. On October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants’ facilities in Syria. On October 8, the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive. Over 2,000 terrorist facilities have been destroyed by Russian aircraft since the start of the air operation. The Russian Federation does not plan to take part in ground operations in Syria. According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.