(tasnim) -- Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters that Putin had hailed the breakthrough as “a strategic victory” over Isis militants, Reuters reported.

Street-to-street fighting was now underway in Deir ezzor, Peskov said.

Russian air strikes that struck Isis targets in the city on Tuesday helped Syrian government troops and their allies in the area swiftly advance, he said, citing a Russian Defense Ministry report to Putin.

On Tuesday, Syrian security forces advanced against Isis to reach troops surrounded for years by the terrorists in a government-held enclave in the eastern city of Deir ezzor.

State television reported that advancing Syrian forces had linked up with government troops in Deir ezzor.

Deir ezzor is located southeast of Isis main stronghold Raqqa.

Both cities lie in oil-rich areas on the Euphrates River.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Isis, currently controlling parts of it.

According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.