Will this be the beginning of a war?
Russia had launched missiles onto ISIS targets in Syria on Wednesday, as said by a senior Russian official.
According to The LAD Bible, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu "has been quoted as saying that four warships fired 26 sea-based cruise missiles on the [11] targets and destroyed them all."
CNN reports that according to Shoigu, "the strikes were launched from the Caspian Sea using precise long-range missiles that flew 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) to their targets."
Wednesday also seemed to show that Russia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are working towards a new and closer level of military cooperation.
In fact, Russia and Syria launched orchestrated attacks on the Islamist factions on Wednesday. These include towns in Hama and Idlib provinces found in western Syria, as reported by an opposition group.
This occurrence follows after Russia was criticized for their involvement in Syria. The country's officials have claimed that they are "targeting 'all terrorists.'"
In spite of claims that there were no civilian casualties, some reports claim otherwise - noting that it had also hit Western-backed rebel groups.
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has further stated that the coalition forces currently battling ISIS groups in Syria do not intend to cooperate with Russia:
"We believe Russia has the wrong strategy. They continue to hit targets that are not IS. We believe this is a fundamental mistake."
However, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov seemed to indicate on Wednesday that cooperation was already "in the works."
Antonov said that Russia was ready to take information and intelligence from the U.S.-led coalition that was obtained against ISIS. He also called on all sides to share targeting reconnaissance.
A ministry spokesman - quoted by Russian Tass news agency - said that the ministry responded to a request from the Pentagon, before "swiftly [considering]" the U.S. proposals to coordinate.
"We just need to specify some technical details that will be discussed today by representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry and the Pentagon at the expert level," said Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov to Tass.
