Title: Russia: We Carried Out Precise Strikes on Several Targets around Idlib

The Interfax news agency reported today, Wednesday, that Oleg Gorinov, the deputy head of the Russian center for reconciliation between warring parties in Syria, stated that Russia conducted precise strikes on several targets near the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria. According to Gorinov, the strikes were a response to "militants attacking targets in Syrian territory controlled by the government using drones." He noted that the strikes resulted in the destruction of a observation post and a weapons and ammunition depot, as well as the death of 18 militants. The "Syrian News" agency quoted the Ministry of Defense earlier today, stating that they "carried out, in cooperation with the Russian forces, precise and qualitative air and missile strikes targeting fortified positions of armed groups in the Idlib countryside." Witnesses and rescuers last week reported that Russian planes bombed villages and towns near Idlib, resulting in the deaths of at least nine civilians and dozens of injuries, marking a significant escalation of violence within the last opposition stronghold in the country. In the past, when fighting erupted, Damascus and Russia claimed that they targeted only opposition groups and denied conducting indiscriminate attacks on civilians.