A Russian warship and submarine have fired four cruise missiles from the Mediterranean at Islamic State targets near the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Defence Ministry said, on Wednesday.

The strike, which Russian news agencies said was the first of its kind since November, was carried out by the frigate “Admiral Essen” and the submarine “Krasnodar,” and targeted militants and equipment in an area east of Palmyra.

The defence ministry said the hardware and forces struck had previously been deployed by Islamic State in Raqqa. “All targets were destroyed,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Russia had warned the United States, Turkey and Israel before launching the missiles.

It did not say when the strike took place, but Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had personally told President Vladimir Putin about the military action late on Tuesday.

The RIA news agency said that the last time Russia fired Kalibr cruise missiles from its ships at militant targets in Syria was in November 2016.

Separately, photographs published on Wednesday by Turkish bloggers for their online Bosphorus Naval News project showed a Russian Syria-bound ship passing through the Bosphorus carrying a consignment of military trucks. 

(NAN)