An independent rights group has released a new report on victims of attacks by the Russian forces since the start of the Russian direct military intervention in Syria in September 2015.
In report entitled ‘World Cup in Russia is mixed with the blood of 6,133 Syrians who were killed by Russia,” the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) pointed out that at least 6,133 civilians have been killed in attacks the Networks believed they were launched by Russian forces in the period between September 30, 2015 and May 20, 2018.
The Network pointed out that the victims included 1,761 children and 661 women.
According to the Network’s report, airstrikes accounted for 90 percent of the victims, while the rest were killed in ground shelling and missile strikes by Russian naval forces. The report listed at least 317 massacres the Russian forces have committed since the start of its direct intervention in Syria.
The monitoring group pointed out that the Russian airstrikes targeted mainly the areas under the control of the mainstream armed opposition groups while just ‘sporadic airstrikes’ targeted ISIS targets.
The Network also said it had recorded no fewer than 939 Russian attacks on vital civilian centers, targeting 169 schools, 167 medical facilities, 140 mosques, and 55 public markets.
The Russian forces used cluster munitions in at least 223 attacks across Syria during the reporting period, the Network added.
The period between 2016 and 2017 saw the peak of the use of cluster munitions, SNHR noted, adding that 99 per cent of the cluster bomb attacks targeted populated areas.
The monitoring group concluded its reports by stressing that the Russian forces have violated many provisions of international humanitarian law, adding that these violations amounted to war crimes. It called for these crimes to be investigated and referred to the International Criminal Court. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
