Russia releases footage of strikes on ISIS oil tankers

Russia has released dramatic images of what officials claim to be a successful strikes targeting ISIS’s oil-smuggling tankers in northern Syria, without being more specific on their location.

“We’ve attacked many terrorist bases, hits were identified on targets and much damage was caused to the terrorist infrastructure,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement this week following the release of the footage.

The images, taken as stills from the fresh footage, show Russian warplanes striking tankers allegedly transporting oil for sale on the black market.

Officials claimed to have destroyed “17 such truck columns in the past week alone - part of a Moscow-led onslaught against ISIS’s oil rackets that Russia says has wiped out nearly 2,000 oil tankers since Russia directly entered the war in Syria in September,” The Telegraph reported.

The footage, presented to the media by Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy, a senior figure in Russian Armed Forces command, showed the tankers being lit up with flames and plumes of thick black smoke followed.

It is unclear whether the tankards were being operated by ISIS or by other rebel groups, as Russian warplanes have previously targeted moderate rebel groups across northern Syria, while claiming to have only targeted ISIS positions.

The Kremlin said it had also hit “one of the main headquarters of the militants” in an airstrike on an undisclosed location.

Russia's air force has made 5,240 sorties since it started the strikes in Syria on Sept. 30, including 189 sorties last Thursday alone, Russia's defense ministry told reporters on Friday.

(With Reuters)