Russian warplanes have destroyed over 29,000 terrorist targets in Syria over 7 months of the anti-terrorist air campaign in the war-torn country, the Russian General Staff said Wednesday. "Over almost seven months of Russian Aerospace Forces' military operation [in Syria], more than 9,500 sorties have conducted and some 29,000 terrorist targets have been destroyed," Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy said. The Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed over 200 terrorist oil facilities since the start of the military operation, Sergei Rudskoi, head of the General Staff's Main Operational Directorate, said. "The sources of finance of Daesh and al-Nusra Front have been cut off. More than 200 facilities for extracting, refining, and pumping fuel in locations controlled by terrorist groups in Syria have been destroyed, as well as more than 2,000 means of delivering oil products." Rudskoy emphasized that Russia has carried out zero strikes leading to destruction of civilian facilities or civilian deaths. He said that the Syrian government forces are capable of winning the fight against terrorists with the support of the remaining part of Russian aviation after the partial withdrawal. The cooperation between the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian army disrupted multiple terrorists' attempts to provoke strikes on civilian facilities, he said. "Multiple militants' attempts to provoke strikes on civilian facilities have been disrupted. According to terrorists' plot, civilian deaths should have undermined the Russian Aerospace Forces, provoke negative reaction from the international community and force the Russian leadership to stop the fight against terrorism." Russian deminers have defused over 3,000 explosives in the ancient city of Palmyra, cleared 23 kilometers of roads and 10 historic sites, Rudskoy said. "The demining of the architectural and historic complex in Palmyra has been finished. During the work by Russian sappers, more than 3,000 explosive devices were defused, 234 hectares of land, 23 kilometers of roads, and 10 historic sites were cleared. Today, subunits of the engineering troops began demining the residential areas of the city of Palmyra," Sergei Rudskoy said. Some 70 drones and other means of reconnaissance are observing the situation in Syrian conflict zones amid the holding ceasefire, he said, adding that peaceful life has returned to some Syrian regions amid truce.
