Russian warplanes have carried out 5,662 sorties for airstrike mission in Syria in the 100 days since the start of operations, said an official with the Russian Defense Ministry Friday. They included 145 sorties by missile-carrying strategic aircraft and long-range bombers. And 97 cruise missiles were launched in the period, said Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Main Operational Directorate, at a live news briefing. “During the 100 days of the operation carried out by the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria, 217 populated localities have been liberated from ISIL (another acronym for Islamic State) and more than 1,000 square kilometers of land have been freed,” Rudskoi claimed. The Russia air forces started airstrikes against positions of the extremist group the Islamic State in Syria on Sept. 30, 2015, with Russian aircraft deployed at Syria’s Hmeimim airbase. According to the Russian defense […]