President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered Russia's armed forces to act in an "extremely tough way" in Syria to protect Russian forces striking Islamic State targets.
"Any targets threatening our (military) group or land infrastructure must be immediately destroyed," he said, speaking at a Defence Ministry event.
Putin said Friday at a meeting with top military brass that the Russian military base in Syria has been beefed up with additional aircraft and air defence weapons, the Associated Press reported.
The buildup followed the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish fighter jet at the Syrian border on 24 November. Without naming Turkey, Putin warned anyone against "further provocations," saying the military will respond in "the toughest way."
Turkey maintains the fighter jet passed into Turkish air space while the Russian government insists it did not. Both countries have released maps which they claim supports their arguments. Tensions between the two countries remain high.
Also during the meeting Russia’s defence minister announced that Russian fighter jets have carried out a total of 4,000 combat sorties on targets in Syria since strikes began in late September.
Sergei Shoigu claimed that over 8,000 “terrorist” targets have been destroyed during that time.
He also confirmed that the military has received 35 new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) this year as part of an ambitious arms modernisation effort.
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