Russia Hit 63 Targets in Syria as Putin Says Not Planning Ground Op

Russian fighter jets hit 63 targets in Syria in the past 24 hours, the defense ministry said Sunday, as Moscow intensifies a campaign it says is aimed against the Islamic State jihadist group.

"Su-34, Su-24M and Su-25SM planes carried out 64 sorties from the Hmeimim airbase against 63 targets in the provinces of Hama, Latakia, Idlib and Raqa," the defense ministry said in a statement.

The Russian military claimed that the air strikes had destroyed 53 positions used by the "terrorists," as well as a command post, four training camps and seven ammunition depots.

Russia said its campaign in the war-torn country was rattling IS fighters, claiming that radio intercepts showed "growing panic" among them.

On Saturday, the defense ministry claimed that fighters were running low on arms, ammunition and fuel, leading them to abandon their combat positions for the country's east and northeast.

In an interview with a state television broadcaster Sunday, President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia was not planning on sending ground troops to Syria. 

"We are not planning on doing this, and our Syrian friends know about this," Putin said.

Putin last month received parliamentary approval to launch an air campaign in the war-torn country, but authorities have staunchly denied they would send any ground troops.

Using modern jets and older Soviet aircraft, Russia has bombed command posts and training camps of what it says are radical "terrorists", backing a ground offensive by the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. 

Putin said Sunday that the Russian operation's objective was to "stabilize the legitimate authorities and create conditions for finding a political compromise."

Speaking of the weaponry used in the strikes -- including cruise missiles Russia fired from the Caspian Sea at targets more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) away -- Putin dismissed the idea that Russia was in a "arms race" with the West.

"This is not about an arms race," he said. "This is about the fact that modern weapons are improving, changing. In other countries, this is happening even faster than here. This is why we have to keep up."

Putin brushed off criticism by the U.S.-led coalition that the Russian air force was not providing it with sufficient advance notice prior to conducting strikes.

"I want to draw attention to the fact that nobody has ever warned us in the planning and beginning of operations of this kind," Putin said. "But we did."