Two Russian soldiers killed in Syria

Two Russian soldiers have been killed by artillery fire from the Islamic State group in eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where the army is battling jihadists. 

Russia's defence ministry said one serviceman was killed instantly and a second died from his wounds in hospital. According to the ministry, the soldiers were travelling with a convoy that was hit by mortar fire from IS



terrorists. 

Moscow announced earlier that it was providing support to Syrian government forces in their push to take Deir Ezzor, one of the last remaining cities controlled by the jihadists. Russia intervened in Syria's six-year-old civil war in September 2015 on the side of President Bashar al-Assad's government, and has conducted thousands of air strikes against targets it labels as "terrorists".