The Russian defence minister said the air force was increasing the number of aircraft involved in pounding terrorists to 69.

Moscow's warplanes have carried out a staggering 394 sorties in just the last three days, hitting 731 rebel targets across Syria.

It comes amid confusion over whether Russia will send in boots on the ground, with the Kremlin today saying they will not launch a full-scale ground war for the time being.

But they refused to rule out such action in future amid reports that Putin is preparing to send in 150,000 troops to end the reign of evil ISIS once and for all.

Defence minister Sergei Shoigu added that more than 600 rebels had been eliminated as a result of a single cruise missile strike on a target in Syrian Deir ez-Zour province.
 

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Tu-95 bomber as it launches a cruise missile at a target in Syria

A fleet of Russian warships in the Caspian sea separately launched 18 cruise missiles on "terrorist positions" in Syria earlier today.

The strikes ordered by Vladimir Putin hit seven targets in the Syrian provinces of Raqqa, Aleppo and Idlib.

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