MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Russian Tu-22M3 long-haul bombers hit Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) targets in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, the Russian defense ministry said on Thursday.

"Russia’s air force continues to provide backing to the Syrian government troops which are conducting an offensive on Islamic State positions in the east of the country. On November 23, 2017, Tu-22M3 long-haul bombers delivered a massive airstrike on Islamic State terrorists’ targets in the province of Deir ez-Zor," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the Tu-22M3 planes took off from an airfield in Russia and covered a distance of more than 2,000 kilometers to deliver a strike on terrorists’ strongholds near the settlement of Al-Katia. "Apart from that, Su-24 bombers that had taken off from the Khmeimim airbase delivered pinpoint strikes on scattered facilities," the ministry added.

The Russian planes hit all the designated targets, which fact was confirmed by means of objective control, the ministry stressed.

Su-30SM and Su-35S fighter jets based at the Khmeimim airdrome provided backing for the bombers in Syria’s airspace.