Turkey's Energy Ministry is reportedly now refuting reports that Russia has halted construction on the Akkuyu nuclear power plant amid a spat following the downing by Turkey of a Russian jet near the Syrian border last month.
Russia's Defense Ministry has now tweeted an image of its Kalibr cruise missiles, which it has made efforts to laud today in a news briefing about their use in a strike against targets in Syria yesterday and now on social media.
The missiles were fired from Russia's Rostov-on-Don submarine off the coast of Syria.
The Ministry said in its tweet that the missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers and is practically invisible to all air defense systems.
Russia's emphasis on the power and range of its cruise missiles comes amid a spat with Turkey after the downing of a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border on November 24.
RIA Novosti has more from today's news briefing with Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, who told reporters that the U.S.-led coalition should "put its cards on the table" when it comes to the fight against IS.
"Right from the start of [Russia's] operation [in Syria] we repeatedly offered to the Americans to organize an exchange of available information on the location of terrorist targets in Syria. Maybe it's time for our colleagues from the so-called 'coalition' to put their cards on the table?" Konashenkov said.
It was not clear exactly what Konashenkov was responding to when he made his comments. But Russia's ally Damascus has accused the U.S.-led coalition of carrying out a December 6 air strike against a Syrian army base in Deir al-Zor. The coalition denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that only Russia is "operating legitimately in the skies above Syria."
Russia's Defense Ministry has tweeted about the munitions used in recent strikes in Syria.
The ministry says that during a "massive strike" Russia used its Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles as well as KAB-500 bombs, laser-guided bombs used by Russia's air force.
Russia has halted work at Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Turkish energy officials told Reuters today.
Russia's state-owned Rosatom has not terminated the contract for building the $20 billion plant, however.
The move comes amid ongoing tensions between Turkey and Russia following the downing by the Turkish air force of a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border on November 24.
Russia, the United States and the United Nations will hold three-way talks on the Syria crisis in Geneva on Friday (December 11), the U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said today, Reuters reports.
Mashable has published an interview with anti-IS activists from the Syrian group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently.
“We get death threats daily," said Abdalaziz al-Hamza, a soft-spoken 24-year-old, who, with two other members of the group, recently visited the U.S. for the first time...
"All of us have received death threats from IS but we thought at least some of us should show our faces, to show the world we genuinely are from Raqqa," said Hamza.
Russia's air force has flown 82 sorties against 204 targets in Syria in the past 24 hours, the Defense Ministry has said, according to RIA Novosti.
The sorties targeted "terrorists" in Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama and Homs and included 32 night sorties, a ministry spokesman said.
The UK says its war planes carried out more strikes against IS targets in Iraq, including providing close air support for offensive operations by Iraqi government forces against IS in the city of Ramadi on December 7.
Russia Boasts Of "High Efficiency" Of Its Kalibr Missiles, As Fired At Raqqa
Russia claimed today that its Rostov-on-Don submarine hit IS targets in Raqqa "with high accuracy," a spokesman for the Defense Ministry has said.
The submarine fired a salvo of Kalibr cruise missiles, the Ministry said, adding that this "confirmed the high efficiency" of the missiles and noting that they have a range of "about 2,000 kilometers."
The missiles are able to hit a target with an accuracy of "a few meters," were equipped with a 500 kilo war head and boasted a low radar signature, Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted as saying in what seemed like more of a briefing to showcase the Kalibr missiles themselves than about Russia's stated mission of destroying IS targets.
Konashenkov also pointed out that the Kalibr missiles can be fitted with nuclear warheads.