Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that jets from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean had launched their first strikes on Syria.

"Today at 10:30 and 11 am (0730 and 0800 GMT), we started a major operation to conduct mass fire damage on the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra Front's positions in the Idlib and Homs provinces," Shoigu was quoted as saying by TASS news agency, using the former name of Fateh al-Sham Front. 

"For the first time in our naval history, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov started taking part in combat," he added.