The Russian Senate has just approved President Vladimir Putin's proposal to deploy air forces in Syria to fight terrorism.

Russia has just authorized the deployment of air forces in Syria, after President Bashar al-Assad requested military support. Illustration photo: ItarTass

"The Federation Council (upper house) unanimously supported the president's request, with 162 votes in favor," Itar Tass news agency quoted Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov as saying today. No one abstained or voted against.

According to Sputnik, the decision only includes the use of air power and does not foresee any ground operations, Ivanov said.

"We are talking about the Russian Air Force's own operation, as our president said, the use of ground forces is excluded. The military goal of the operation is to provide air support to the Syrian government forces in the fight against the Islamic State," Ivanov said.

Mr Ivanov also said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had asked Russia for military assistance. The Kremlin would inform its foreign partners about the parliament's decision today through the Foreign Ministry's channels, and the military would do the same through its own channels.

"The Russian air force operation, of course, cannot last indefinitely and has a clearly defined time frame. However, I cannot announce the date or the number of aircraft or types of air weapons that our air force will use in the operation," the Kremlin chief of staff said.

President Putin has previously asked the Federation Council to authorize the use of armed forces abroad.

According to the Russian constitution, the Upper House is responsible for deciding on the possibility of using Russian armed forces abroad.

On March 1, the body authorized the president to use Russian forces on Ukrainian territory until the situation in Ukraine returned to normal. In June 2014, the Senate revoked this decision at the request of Russian President Putin, when multilateral negotiations to resolve the issue in eastern Ukraine began./.

According to VnExpress