Russia rejected a claim by United Nations investigators that Russian air attacks in Syria amounted to a war crime by targeting civilian areas.
On Monday, a UN commission published a report which finds that the actions of Russia and Turkey in Syria could amount to war crimes by both Moscow and Ankara. Russia backs the Syrian government’s forces, while Turkey supports the rebels that the government fights.
The commission said it had evidence that Russian planes participated in two air attacks in Idlib and in rural Damascus last July and August that killed more than 60 people. The investigators denounced “deliberate” attacks by the Syrian government and allied forces on protected civilian sites, including hospitals and schools.
Notably, the UN report covers the period from July 2019 to February 2020 during which, it is alleged, Russia committed war crimes by launching indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas.
Air strikes on a crowded market in the city of Maarat Al-Numan on 22 July last year and a camp for displaced persons in Hass in rural Idlib on 16 August were cited by the UN.
Idlib, just across Turkey’s southern border, falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in a deal between Turkey and Russia in late 2018.
But the Syrian regime and its allies have consistently broken the terms of the agreement, launching frequent attacks inside the territory, where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
Turkey launched Operation Spring Shield on Sunday after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred in an Assad regime airstrike in Idlib.
Under the 2018 deal with Russia, Turkish troops were in Idlib to protect civilians from attacks by the Assad regime and its allies.
More than 1,300 civilians have been killed in the Idlib de-escalation zone in such attacks, sending 1 million refugees towards Turkey’s border with Syria.