Russian air strikes have killed at least 30 jihadists in rebel-held Idlib province in northwestern Syria, the defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The strikes, which began on Tuesday, were part of a major operation against jihadists in Idlib and Homs which saw the first missions carried out by Russian warplanes taking off from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier that arrived off Syria last week.
In the statement, ministry spokesman Igor Konachenkov said those killed were fighters with the Fateh al-Sham Front.
"According to information from different intelligence sources, at least 30 terrorists were killed," he said, indicating that one of them was a jihadist leader charged with "preparing and carrying out a new offensive in Aleppo".