Russian Federation does not kill civilians in Syria

However, members of the anti-Daesh military alliance, including Turkey, say civilians and moderate opposition forces fighting the regime are bearing the brunt of the strikes.

The Kremlin has rejected a recent report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) that airstrikes believed to have been conducted by Russian jets in western Syria killed dozens of civilians.

It added that Russian Federation and Syria have to abide by their obligations under worldwide humanitarian law.

The residents said they believed the warplanes that bombed the village were Russian because the sound they made was different from those of the Syrian Air Force. The rights group said the airstrike violated the laws of war.

This was not the first time the Russian forces faced allegations of striking civilians since the start of the bombing campaign.

Another airstrike on the same day hit near a bakery, killing at least 13 civilians as well as a FSA soldier who was a Syrian army defector, the rights group said, adding that it was not clear whether he was the intended target, as neither Russian Federation nor the Syrian regime issued statements about the specific air strikes. “In such cases the Russian troops chose not to hit those targets”, he said.

He said the stories were deliberately planted.

Peskov said that the Russian military have repeatedly said that in selecting the targets [for the airstrikes on the terrorist facilities] they give priority importance to “the civilian population safety”, using data supplies by the Syrian colleagues and colleagues from the coordination centre in Baghdad.

The two airstrikes, which were launched on 15 October, killed a total of 59 civilians, including 33 children and 12 women, in addition to a Free Syrian Army commander.

“Russia talks about precision strikes, yet accounts from the ground and footage from the aftermath indicate that many civilians are being killed”, said HRW’s deputy Middle East Director Nadim Houry. “Russia needs to take all necessary measures to protect civilians from their own strikes”.