Russia today released footage from one of its drones in Syria, revealing for the first time the latest destruction to the ruins of historic Palmyra since it was recaptured by Islamic State militants, as Syrian government forces pushed ahead on the ground in a new offensive to take the city back.
Syrian troops have advanced close to within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the UNESCO heritage site for which Palmyra is famous and which has already suffered massive destruction at the hands of the Islamic State group.
The drone footage, released in Moscow, showed IS militants have badly damaged the facade of the Roman-era theater and the Tetrapylon a set of four monuments with four columns each at the center of the colonnaded road leading to the theater.
The video appears to show that only two of the 16 columns remain standing.
The footage also recorded sustained truck movements around the archaeological site, suggesting the militants could be preparing for further demolitions by bringing in explosives, warned the Russian Defense Ministry.
It said Russian warplanes last week carried out more than 90 sorties to provide air cover for the offensive.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, the office of the UN envoy for Syria said the "formal start" of a new round of UN-brokered peace talks for the war-torn country is expected on February 23.
Staffan de Mistura's office said he was "actively engaged" in diplomatic efforts aimed at bringing Syrian government and opposition delegations back to Geneva for the first time since the talks were suspended amid an upsurge in fighting last April.
De Mistura had previously said the talks were expected to resume on February 20 but his office said now the delegations would first hold preliminary meetings with de Mistura's team in the Swiss city.
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