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Kremlin slams Human Rights Watch for accusations against Russia

The report of the international human rights organisation suggests that at least two airstrikes, which, according to locals, were made by Russian aircraft on October 15, violated the laws of war
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov TASS/Sergei Fadeichev
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov
© TASS/Sergei Fadeichev

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov has said that the Human Rights Watch (HRW) accusations against Russia for the violation of the law of war during its combat operation in Syria were "a canard."

"We know a great number of reports, canards, intentional information leaks to the media regarding, so to say, the consequences of the Russian combat air operation there [in Syria], we’ve registered an enormous number of them in recent weeks," he said, commenting on a report on Russia’s actions in Syria published on Sunday. "I think that it’s one of them."

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 Kremlin spokesman also said that terrorists have been taking advantage of this Russian approach "and often hide in residential areas." As a result, the Russian military abstain from delivering airstrikes on residential areas.

The report of the international human rights organisation suggests that at least two airstrikes, which, according to locals, were made by Russian aircraft on October 15, violated the laws of war. The human rights activists, citing local residents, claimed innocent civilians were killed in these airstrikes.