Russia fires missiles

Assad’s office released a statement saying he had called to congratulate the commanders who were defending the city.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said a Russian warship in the Mediterranean fired cruise missiles early Tuesday toward IS targets near the city. The ministry said it targeted a fortified area around the town of el-Shola, where most of the militants are believed to hail from Russia and former Soviet republics.

The ministry said its drone footage showed that the missile strikes destroyed a communications center, command centers,

ammunition depots, a repair shop for armored vehicles and killed an unspecified number of militants.

Tuesday’s breakthrough came after government forces dismantled mines around the once besieged government-held air base known as Brigade 137.

DeirEzzor 24, an activist group that has reporters throughout the eastern province, reported heavy clashes near the village of Jabra, adjacent to the besieged area.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, hailing the breaking of the siege of Deir Ezzor by Syrian government troops, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters that Putin had hailed the breakthrough as “a strategic victory” over Islamic State militants.

Street-to-street fighting was now underway in Deir Ezzor, Peskov said.