MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. Russia supports the actions by the Syrian army to eliminate terrorist provocations in the Idlib zone, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.

"A ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey was declared in early January. Since then, the radicals entrenched in Idlib violated it dozens of times, attacking both civilian objects and Syrian army positions. Attempts to attack Russia’s Hmeymim airbase with drones also won’t stop," Lavrov said.

"Naturally, these sorts of armed provocations, which took dozens of lives and injured hundreds of Syrian servicemen and civilians in this month alone, cannot be left without a response. We support the actions of the Syrian Army to quash the sources of these provocations in the Idlib zone," the top diplomat concluded.

Lavrov noted that the situation in Idlib escalates because of regular ceasefire violations by the militants "under, probably, slightly less than total control of the Nusra Front and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham organization, which the Nusra Front turned into and whose cover it uses.".