Russian Tu-95 Bombers Strikes ISIS Targets In Syria Using Latest Kh-101 Cruise Missiles

Russia strikes Daesh terrorist organization targets in Syria with the latest Kh-101 cruise missiles from a group of Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers Thursday.

Tu-95MS long-range strategic bombers departed Wednesday from an airfield in the southern Russian city of Engels carrying the latest Kh-101 long-range cruise missiles and successfully targeted an ISIS command center and three weapons storage depots in Aqirbat, a town in the western governorate of Hama, according to the Russian Defense Ministry statement.

"The strikes were carried out using high-precision Kh-101 missiles from a distance of about 1,000 kilometers," the ministry said in a statement.

Such missiles were capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) and could carry nuclear warheads, the ministry added. The Tupolev-95MS can carry eight such missiles at any one time.

The aircraft were reportedly supported by Su-30SM fighters based in Syria’s Hmeymim airbase.

Russia’s Kh-101 cruise missile, which was first used in Syria in 2015, and is also known in Russia as X-101, is the latest variant of the Soviet-era Kh-55 subsonic air-launched cruise missile. The Kh-101 is projected to have a range of more than 2,800 miles and also comes in a Kh-102 nuclear-tipped model.