Russia fired missiles at Isis targets in Syria from its submarine in the Mediterranean in the first such strike in its war against the Islamic State, and the Russian defence ministry has released a video of the feat.
The Kalibr land-attack cruise missiles were fired from the Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine 'Rostov-on-Don' on Tuesday, the ministry said.
Russia had launched strikes against the Islamic State from its warships last month, and this is the first time that strikes had been launched from a submarine.
The submarine-launched missiles reportedly hit Isis oil infrastructure, a weapons store and a factory in Raqqa.
"The targets were two large terrorist positions in the territory of Raqqa," Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.
"We warned our Israeli and American colleagues about these launches," Shoigu added, making his point in the background of a war of words between US and Russian governments over their respective military action in Syria.
Putin praised the missile strike, and also made a not-very-discreet- warning to Daesh when he said that he hoped nuclear warheads will not be required against the terror group.
"We must analyze everything happening on the battlefield, how the weapons operate. The Kalibrs and KH-101) have proved to be modern and highly effective, and now we know it for sure - precision weapons that can be equipped with both conventional and special warheads, which are nuclear," Putin said, according to RT.com.
"Naturally, this is not necessary when fighting terrorists and, I hope, will never be needed," the Russian president added.
Russia began conducting airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 30 September on the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
