Warships in the Caspian Sea launched cruise missiles in the first use of the Russian navy since the start of a military build-up in support of al-Assad. Sergei Shoigu, Russia's Defence Minister, said on Thursday that the navy hit 11 targets in Syria with missiles fired from ships in the Caspian Sea. Four ships in Russia's Caspian fleet fired a total of 26 cruise missiles at the targets. They flew 1,500km over Iran and Iraq and struck Raqqa and Aleppo provinces in Syria's north and Idlib province in the northwest. IS has strongholds in Raqqa and Aleppo, while al-Nusra Front has a strong presence in Idlib. Ashton Carter, the Pentagon chief, said the Russian strategy is a ‘fundamental mistake’ and coalition forces operating in the region will not co-operate with Russia. Putin stressed the need for co-operation with the US-led coalition fighting IS, saying that without co-operation from the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia the intervention was unlikely to work.