On September 22, the Russian submarine Veliky Novgorod (B-268) fired an unknown number of Kalibr cruise missiles (SS-N-27/30A) from a submerged position at targets in Syria’s Idlib province. The missiles traveled 300 km before striking command centers, armored vehicles, and training facilities. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the missile launch was a counter-offensive strike against members of the extremist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), formerly known as the Al Nusra Front, that had surrounded 29 Russian military police earlier in the week.

On September 26, Tu-95MS bombers flew 7,000 km from Engels Air Field in southwestern Russia through Iraqi and Iranian airspace before launching Kh-101 cruise missiles at ISIS and JFS targets in the Syrian provinces of Deir al-Zor and Idlib. A statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense says the strikes, “eliminated terrorists’ command posts, hardware and manpower concentration areas as well as ammunition depots.” The statement also stressed that the strikes were a safe distance from US special operation forces and Syrian Democratic Forces outposts in the ISIS-controlled territory.