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Conflict in Syria

Russian lawmakers lash out at Belgium for resusal to aknowledge Hassadjek attack

The Russian State Duma vice-speaker said that Brussels’ refusal to acknowledge the Hassadjek village bombing gives ground to believe that it suffers from the multiple identity syndrome in geopolitics

© AP Photo/Peter Dejong

MOSCOW, October 21 /TASS/. Irina Yarovaya, the Russian State Duma vice-speaker (the United Russia party), said on Friday that Brussels’ refusal to acknowledge the Hassadjek village bombing on Aleppo outskirts gives ground to believe that it suffers from the multiple identity syndrome in geopolitics.

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Moscow says Belgian defense minister tries to distract attention from Hassadjek attack

Deputy Sergey Zheleznyak, the deputy secretary of the United Russia General Council, urged Belgium to present apologies to the Russian Defense Ministry for "unpardonable lies."

"The behavior of the capital of European democracy makes all of us think if it is possible to rely on the objectivity of those who is denying the obvious documentary proof," Yarovaya said. "In addition to eliminating terrorists in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry is forced to validate documentarily the actions of those who, in a bid to preserve the status quo and remain anonymous, is exterminating peaceful civilians and helping terrorists," the Russian deputy added. "Apart from double standards in geopolitics, those who should be caught red-handed have developed a multiple identity syndrome," Yarovaya went on to say.

For his part, Zheleznyak said that the Belgian Defense Ministry’s remarks about details of the F-16 strike on civilians and civilian targets in Syria - something which the Belgian side is refusing to acknowledge - is unsoldierly.

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Russia baffled by Belgium’s refusal to acknowledge Hassadjek village bombing

"The Russian Defense Ministry has provided data registered by special technical means, which show that the planes which delivered an air strike on the peaceful civilians in Aleppo belonged to Belgium. But this truth is inconvenient for Brussels because it does not fit into the concept of Russia’s fault for the death of peaceful civilian population in Syria," Zheleznyak explained.

The United Russia party noted that the Russian Defense Ministry had all the necessary means of technical surveillance and monitoring at its disposal. "So it is funny to hear Europe’s remarks that the date is not trustworthy," he added. "Unlike our western partners, we always provide only verified facts confirmed by documents and recorded footages. Brussels should apologize to the Russian Defense Ministry for unpardonable lies and unfounded accusations," Zheleznyak stressed.

Hassadjek village strike

On October 18, Russia’s Center for Reconciliation in Syria reported that six people had been killed and four wounded in an airstrike on the Hassadjek village near Aleppo. The Russian Aerospace Force and Syrian Air Force aircraft were not conducting any missions in this area on that day, in contrast, Belgian fighter jets had been detected. Belgium’s Defense Minister Steven Vandeput later stated that the country’s Air Force had not delivered any airstrikes on civilian targets in the vicinity of Aleppo that day.

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On Thursday, Russia’s Defense Ministry put forward its data saying that two Belgian F-16 fighter jets had taken off from an airfield in Jordan on October 18 and had been refueled twice by a US aircraft. The ministry said the data would be forwarded to Belgium. After that the Belgian Ministry of Defense issued a statement saying the numbers on the aircraft provided by Russia’s Defense Ministry were not Belgian.

Six Belgian F-16 fighter jets joined the US-led coalition active in Syria since this July. As the Belgian Ministry of Defense announced earlier, they "they have been conducting a full range of military operations."

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that the Hassadjek bombing was not the first case when the international coalition’s planes delivered airstrikes on civilians and refused to bear responsibility for their actions afterwards. "This is how weddings, funeral processions, hospitals, humanitarian aid convoys and even the Syrian troops, which are fighting IS (the Islamic State terror organization, banned in Russia) near Deir ez-Zor, are coming under fire. It does not only happen in Syria," Konashenkov stressed.

He added that none of the coalition states had ever been brought to justice for those cases.

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Foreign policy Syrian conflict

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