Russian Federation denies ‘war crimes’ allegations made by Amnesty

The majority of the Russian attacks were in and around the Syrian cities of Idlib, Homs and Aleppo.

Amnesty’s report detailed strikes in residential areas, hitting mosques and hospitals, saying that the strikes have “killed hundreds of civilians”.

Amnesty International says Russian Federation may have committed war crimes during its military campaign in Syria.

Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry, told a news briefing in Moscow that the Amnesty report contained “fake information”. The 28-page report highlighted the fact that Russian Federation has flatly denied any civilian casualties or even damage to civilian property during its hundreds of air strikes on Syrian “terrorists”. Russian Federation has said it is targeting Islamic State, but it has faced widespread criticism that its strikes have focused largely on opposition group sites.

He also rejected accusations by human rights bodies that Russian Federation was using cluster bombs in Syria.

Russian officials have yet to comment on the report. “In some attacks, the Russian armed forces appear to have directly attacked civilians or civilian objects by striking residential areas with no evident military objective”.

In one of the deadliest incidents, Amnesty said three missiles were fired at a busy market in the Idlib locality of Ariha, killing 49 civilians. In a few moments, the main street, packed with people buying and selling fruit and vegetables, turned into a scene of carnage with burning cars and the wounded screaming in terror.

Amnesty International says Russian airstrikes in Syria have killed at least 200 civilians in recent months and suggested those actions could amount to war crimes.

Cluster munitions are indiscriminate and due to the high dud rate pose a long-term threat to civilian populations.

Amnesty said it had interviewed eyewitnesses and survivors of attacks, and examined video evidence and images showing the aftermath, aided by analysis by weapons experts. It said that cluster munitions have also been used in Libya, Sudan and Yemen this year, “causing unacceptable harm to civilians”.

The report gives more details about six attacks.

Earlier this week, President Vladimir Putin warned Russian Federation will use more advanced military force against terror groups in Syria “if necessary”.

More than 250,000 people are believed to have been killed and millions of people have been forced to flee their homes since the conflict began in Syria in March 2011.