Moscow has named a new commander for the Russian Aerospace Forces, a decision an analyst describes as “a rather unusual choice.”

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that the Aerospace Forces launched the Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region.

Aircraft of the Syrian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Forces hit concentrations of illegal armed groups in the province of Homs, killing dozens of terrorists, the Syrian Defense Ministry said on its Facebook page, News.az reports citing TASS.

The UK government has imposed sanctions on the Russian Aerospace Forces, according to a document published by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.