International support for Russia’s effective anti-terrorist campaign is growing, with expressions of support now including Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev, and top officials of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) fighters who have been the most effective fighters against ISIS.

“We will fight alongside whoever fights Daesh [isis],” said Salih Muslim, co-president of the Democratic Union Party, to Al Monitor. His party’s militia, the YPG, has coordinated its fight against ISIS with the U.S., but has also been attacked by Obama’s “ally” Turkey. “We want Russia to provide us air support as well as weapons in our fight,” YPG commander Sipan Hemo said, reported McClatchy News.

Panic and desertion have hit the ISIS ranks and 600 ISIS fighters fled the group’s headquarters in Raqqah, reported Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff, on Saturday. On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry emphasized that the bombing campaign will intensify after the successful destruction of ISIS positions.

Syrian Al Watan, a pro-government newspaper reported that Russian forces have run 60 sorties against 50 ISIS locations since Wednesday, and said that, “the Russian strikes have achieved what 3,000 U.S. strikes failed to achieve in Syria.”

Yesterday, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov announced additional successful strikes. Statements from the Ministry emphasized the careful targeting the Russians are conducting before the strikes and the accuracy of the munitions. The guided air to surface bomb, the KAB-500, used against an ISIS air base near Maarat Al-Nuuman in Idlib, has a “possible circular deviation … that does not exceed 5 meters.” Aerospace Forces spokesman Igor Klimov described the Kh-29L air-to-surface missile being used in Syria that strikes targets with “a precision less than two meters,” approximately.

In Idlib province, Su-25 attackers hit the ISIS training camp there, also destroying a workshop for explosive belt production. Near the town of Jisr al-Shugur, they hit 8 ISIS facilities, including 4 command posts and ammunition and armament depots. The Defense Ministry updates about the targets—which have been provided daily since Friday—indicate they have precise intelligence about the locations and nature of ISIS facilities.

Plans for attacks on ISIS command posts will expand the areas covered, and the Defense Ministry tweeted, “Twenty-four hours a day UAV’s are monitoring the situation in the ISIS activity areas. All the detected targets are effectively engaged day and night in any weather conditions.”

The response of the jihadis is panic. They are again proving that there is no “moderate” opposition. Al Nusra announced the creation of a “joint military operations center” in the region around Talbiseh and “dozens” of Free Syrian Army officers signed a statement that they are joining this command “to confront the Russian and Iranian occupation.” 

European Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini was interviewed by Lally Weymouth for Sunday’s Washington Post, while she was in New York City for the UN General Aseembly.  She called for an inclusive political solution to the Syria conflict, “a process where all Syrian parties, regime representatives and opposition, come together and elaborate a common transition plan for the country.  Obviously that excludes terrorist organizations like al-Nusra and ISIL.”

She included Iran in the process, noting that “Iran, for example, has a lot of influence on the regime. I think they understand that this is going to be their first test to see if they can play a constructive role after the deal.”

She defended Russian motives in Syria, telling Weymouth, “From what I understand, Russia’s main worry is that there could be a complete collapse of the state structure in Syria, something similar to what happened in Libya, and that would endanger even the idea of having a transition.  I think everybody realizes it would be impossible to have a future role for Assad in Syria. But a transition means you have the regime present at the table. Imagine what happens if Damascus falls, in terms of refugees…. Russia is taking its seat at the table and saying, `I am here and will be part of the process.’  There is a military component, but we Europeans are convinced that there is no purely military solution to the war.”

She also opposed a no-fly zone, arguing that Syrians will not trust a no-fly zone and will not return to the country until ISIS is defeated.  She also distinguished between Europe and the United States in the context of questions about the refugee crisis, noting that the U.S. is a melting pot and Europe is homogeneous, and must change and grow.