MOSCOW. Aug 21 (Interfax) - The liberation of the area surrounding Deir ez-Zor will allow for routing the ISIL group (outlawed in Russia), the Russian Armed Forces General Staff said.
"With Deir ez-Zor de-blocked, the defeat of the main forces of the most odious ISIL terrorist group, which planned to establish a so-called Caliphate, will be complete," chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Main Operational Directorate Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi said at a press briefing on Monday.
Syrian governmental forces backed by the Russian Aerospace Forces are swiftly advancing on Deir ez-Zor from three directions, he said.
"The bridgehead around this city is the terrorists' last stronghold on Syrian land. Their remaining forces are being amassed precisely here. According to our data, militants from Mosul have moved to this area and a large portion of the most combat capable ISIL units from Raqqah, which, despite this, has resisted capture by the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces units supported by the U.S. and its allies over the past three months," Rudskoi said.