A new investigation from Amnesty International charges that a series of Russian air strikes in Syria have killed more than 200 civilians and very few militants. “This suggests the attacks may have violated global humanitarian law and may, in some circumstances, constitute war crimes”.
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The report puts Russia’s air war in Syria under close scrutiny, focusing on six bombing raids on areas where Amnesty says there were no obvious military targets nearby.
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In a report published Wednesday, 23 December, Amnesty International accuses Russian Federation of killing hundreds of civilians and causing massive destruction in Syria in raids against residential areas with high population density.
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Russia’s military “unlawfully used unguided bombs in densely populated areas and inherently indiscriminate cluster munitions”, the report said.
Amnesty gave one such example, the BBC reports, of a Russian warplane firing three missiles into a busy public market in the Idlib province on 29 November. “Such conduct does not cultivate confidence in their willingness to investigate reported violations in good faith”, said Phillip Hunter.
Fixed-wing military aircraft based primarily at the Hmaymim air base in Latakia governorate have since then carried out thousands of sorties across the country and attacked thousands of locations that Russian Federation has described as “terrorist” targets.
Speakinng to the Independent upon the release of its report, Amnesty said it had repeatedly put its evidence to Moscow officials beforehand but received no “substantive” response. “So, on those counts, we believe that it has most likely committed war crimes”, says Amnesty’s Neil Sammonds. Russian Federation and Syria among several nations – including the United States – that are not signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the bombs. The group was advised by military experts, analyzed video footage of the attacks, and also matched the dates Russian Federation claimed its airstrikes took place against days when civilians were bombarded from above.
However, the Russian authorities have alleged their armed forces are attacking only “terrorists” targets and have denied killing civilians.
He added that Russian Su-34 jets also destroyed two oil storage facilities and multiple fuel pumps in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria.
Konashenkov, the Russian ministry spokesman, flatly rejected the claim that Russian aircraft used cluster bombs in Syria.
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“We see how effectively our pilots and intelligence officers work in Syria and how effectively they coordinate their efforts”, Putin said at a Kremlin event honoring security service employees, according to the Sputnik state-run news agency.
