Russian jets carried out a second day of airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, but there were conflicting claims about whether they were targeting Islamic State and al-Qaida militants or trying to shore up the defenses of President Bashar Assad.
As concerns grew about a conflict that has now drawn in warplanes from the world's two most powerful militaries, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied reports that civilians were killed in any Russian airstrikes.
"We are ready for such information attacks," he said in a live broadcast from the Kremlin. "The first reports of civilian casualties came even before our jets took off."
U.S. and Russian military officials began talks on Thursday on ways to avoid their forces firing on each other in Syria.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country and the U.S.-coalition "see eye-to-eye" on the targets of the fight in Syria. He added that "we believe that our position is absolutely in line with international law."
Amid an unforgiving global news cycle – and as nations weigh their options in responding to...
A Maronite parish priest, Father Pierre Al-Rai, was killed and at least five people were injured...
Colonel Oleksandr Dovgach, commander of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade and a Hero of Ukraine, was...
Israeli settlers shot and killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over the weekend, amid...
