Not taking the Islamic State lightly, Russian authorities recently said that its warplanes carried out as many as 25 air strikes in and around the Syrian city of Palmyra, captured by ISIS last May. The strikes come after the Russian defence ministry got surprise orders to retreat from the Syrian airbase by President Vladimir Putin.

The United States, however, denies the reports of Russia staging any air strikes in Syria in the past week. US Central Command spokesman Patrick Ryder said they did notice some bombardments in the region, but thought they were just Russian artillery. According to him, Russia has already withdrawn most, if not all, of its strike aircraft.

ISIS, on the other hand, claimed that it killed five Russian soldiers fighting on ground around the Palmyra region.