Six Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bombers conducted an airstrike against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists in the Euphrates river valley in Syria’s province of Deir ez-Zor on Sunday. The long-range aircraft targeted amassed terrorist forces and outposts, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The strikes were confirmed through technical means of objective control, it added. The Tu-22M3 planes, which flew to Syria from Russia, received air cover from Su-30SM and Su-35S fighter jets, which were scrambled from Russia’s Khmeimim Airbase in western Syria. Upon completing the mission, all the aircraft returned to their home bases.