Moscow cited the strikes, which allowed Islamic State fighters to briefly overrun a Syrian army position near Deir al-Zor airport, as evidence that the United States was helping the militants.
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The US-led coalition bombed the area around Deir Al-Zour airport only to be informed by Russian Federation that it had hit Syrian troops.
If the United States mistakenly struck Syrian government troops in an airstrike, “we regret doing so, especially the loss of lives”, a USA official told Anadolu Agency on Saturday. The Russian Defense Ministry said on September 17 that 62 Syrian government soldiers had died.
The US apologized to Syria for the “unintentional loss of life” that was the result of a coalition-led airstrike on Deir-al-Zour, according to a senior level official in the US government yesterday evening (Saturday).
It said that coalition aircraft had been carrying out air strikes against “what was believed to be” an Islamic State fighting position that the coalition had been “tracking for some time”.
Russia’s Defence Ministry says conditions in Syria are deteriorating. “The U.S. will continue to pursue compliance with the Cessation of Hostilities as we continue military action against ISIL and Al Qaida”.
“The turning helicopter was hit by militants’ gunfire from the ground and crashed in the area controlled by the Syrian government army”.
Ms Zakharova said the strikes threatened to undermine the ceasefire in Syria brokered by Russian Federation, which has been aiding Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad in the civil war, and the United States, which has backed some rebel groups.
In New York, the UN Security Council cancelled an urgent meeting that had been called to discuss whether to endorse the ceasefire, billed as the “last chance” to end the five-year war that has killed 300,000 people.
In December, Damascus accused United States coalition warplanes of striking an army camp near Dayr az-Zawr but Washington said it was done by Russian jets.
However, Russia and Syrian state media said the Syrian army later recaptured positions it had lost.
“Moscow is deeply concerned about what happened”, says a foreign ministry statement.
A Foreign Ministry statement on Sunday said that in an emergency U.N. Security Council session called after the airstrike, the United States took “an unconstructive and indistinct position”.
The strikes came less than a week into a fragile ceasefire aimed at stopping the bloodshed in Syria’s five-year civil war, as Russian Federation accused what it termed “moderate rebels” of causing the truce to fail.
Putin said Washington apparently “has the desire to keep the capabilities to fight the lawful government of President Assad”, calling it a “very unsafe path”.
The truce saw violence drop across Syria for several days after it came into force on Monday, but fighting has since erupted on several fronts and besieged civilians are still waiting desperately for promised aid deliveries.
The UN has said it can not deliver aid until “all guarantees are in place for safe delivery”.
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The Syrian government said it has done all that is necessary to facilitate the entry of aid convoys to Aleppo, but that armed groups have failed to withdraw from the supply routes and are committing “dangerous, provocative acts”.
