During a meeting with top commanders of the Ministry of Defense, and after warning of possible provocations, Putin ordered them to respond harshly and destroy any target threatening the military forces and infrastructure in Syrian territory.
He said the ISIL represents a direct threat and warned of new provocations against the Russian forces in Syria, in the wake of the downing of a Su-24 bomber by a Turkish fighter plane in Syrian territory that caused the deaths of one of the pilots and one marine.
"I remind you that Russia's actions in Syria are dictated not by abstract geopolitical interests or the aspiration to try new armament, but by the need to reverse the threat to the Russian Federation," he stressed.
