Syrian government forces and allied fighters, backed by Russian air support, broke through enemy positions on the southwestern approaches to the city, bringing an end to the three-year siege of the strategic enclave.
"This is one of the last big cities in Syria still under Daesh control. The terrorists also control several villages in the Euphrates Valley near the Iraqi border, while the remaining terrorist forces are now in and around Deir ez-Zor and remain encircled near the town of Akerbat,” Viktor Murakhovsky said.
The advancing government forces beat back a series of terrorist counterattacks with explosives-packed armored vehicles destroying over 50 “jihadmobiles,” and are now fighting to liberate parts of the city still controlled by terrorists.
“I don’t think the Syrian Army and its allies will now have any problem liberating Deir ez-Zor,” Murakhovsky said.
On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian warplanes and Kalibr cruise missiles launched from the Admiral Essen frigate in the Mediterranean had destroyed a number of terrorist strongholds and ammunition depots outside Deir ez-Zor.
The lifting of the siege of Deir ez-Zor will lead to the complete defeat of the most combat-effective terrorist formations in Syria, the chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate said.
