Syrian state television, quoting a military source, said the army had begun a military operation in the area after heavy airstrikes and artillery barrages early on Thursday, Reuters reported on Friday.
The army operations include a campaign to recapture rebel-held land in Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces in the northwest.
The Syrian military source quoted by state television said the army had taken control of the villages of Khalidiya and Dar Kabira, between Homs and Teir Malla.
Since late September, Russia has been carrying out bombings against the ISIL terrorist group in Syria, after Russia's parliament granted President Putin authorization to deploy the country's air force abroad.
Syria has been entangled in civil war since March 2011. The ISIL Takfiri group now controls parts of the Arab country, mostly in the east.
In the past four and half years, more than 240,000 people have died in Syria -overwhelmingly civilians- and around 4 million Syrian people are now refugees in other countries. Around 8 million others have been displaced internally.