SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin marked his 63rd birthday on Wednesday in his favourite Black Sea resort of Sochi by taking part in an ice hockey match and holding a briefing on his country's military campaign in Syria.
State TV showed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu telling Putin that the Russian military had struck 112 targets in Syria since it began its air campaign last Wednesday, and that cruise missiles had been fired overnight from Russian warships in the Caspian Sea at Islamist militants in Syria.