Sergey Shoigu

Syria is fully liberated from terrorists, all units of the Islamic State (ISIL/ISIS) terror group (outlawed in Russia) have been destroyed, Chief of Russia's General Staff, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, said at an annual briefing for foreign defense attaches on Wednesday.

Russia's ever-increasing number of intercepts of foreign reconnaissance planes near its borders indicates NATO's drive to detect weak points in the country's air defense, Russian military expert Boris Rozhin told Sputnik.

Sergey Shoigu

The growing NATO presence in the Baltic and Eastern Europe demonstrates "blatant unwillingness" of certain Western states to stop "pursuing an anti-Russian agenda" and forces Moscow to beef up its border defenses, according to Russia's defense minister.

A day after a Russian fighter allegedly flew within one metre of a US reconnaissance plane traveling over the Baltic Sea, Reuters reports that a NATO F-16 fighter jet returned the favor when it tried to improperly approach a plane carrying the Russian defense minister.

Photo: Sputnik / Mikhail Voskresensky

The Serbian armed forces want to take part in the mine clearance operations in Syria, including in Palmyra, Serbian Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic said after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said the air forces of Russia and Syria will stop pounding the Syrian city of Aleppo to usher in the "humanitarian pause" successfully on October 20.

There will be six corridors for civilians to leave, and two other will be available for rebels for the time of the pause, TASS news agency quotes him as saying.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to the fierce fighting renewed between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where a conflict is threatening to resurface after having remained frozen since 199s4.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan maintain the other side began the fighting, with conflicting reports about details and casualties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu to start the withdrawal of forces from Syria, Tuesday. The country will, however, keep a military presence in the port of Tartus and at the Khneimim airbase to observe the ceasefire. The Russian President said he considered the objectives set by the Russian military as accomplished.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered to start withdrawing Russian troops from Syria on Tuesday.

The second pilot of the Russian Su-24 warplane, which was brought down by Turkey near the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday, is safe and sound.

This was announced by Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu on Wednesday, TASS news agency informs.

The pilot was rescued by Russian and Syrian forces and taken to base, in an operation which lasted for twelve hours.