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MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. The West’s reproaches regarding Russia’s firing of missiles from the Caspian on terrorist targets in Syria are far-fetched, Russia’s envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said Friday during a Moscow-Brussels video conference.
"I can’t comment on the issue [whether Russia warned the United States and NATO on cruise missile launches], it has been commented by Russia’s Defense Ministry in a rather detailed way," Grushko said. "The trajectory of missiles was built so as not to create any problems for anyone."
"But in general, media hype, by the way, NATO has not officially reacted to that, could be a certain touch in the general discontent with the military actions of the Russian Federation in Syria," he said.
"Such reproaches on the part of the West look rather far-fetched, with account for experience of delivering strikes at various directions, demonstration of the West’s capabilities shown during many and many campaigns," Grushko said.
"By the way, the results of these campaigns today determine the state of the Middle East and Northern Africa that we observe: chaos when there are no institutions of state administration at huge territories, when these territories become a refuge for terrorists and extremists," he stated.
Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes at facilities of the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria on September 30. The air group comprises over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. Dozens of terrorist facilities have been hit by Russian aircraft over the past few days.
On Wednesday, October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants’ facilities in Syria. On Thursday the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive.
Russia’s Armed Forces act on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Russian Federation does not plan to take part in ground operations in Syria.
According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.
An international peace conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2, organized by Russia and the United States and designed to negotiate a solution to the Syrian crisis, held in January and February 2014, brought no particular progress.