MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. The White Helmets are preparing a provocation with the use of chemical substances in Syria’s Idlib Governorate, Major-General Alexey Tsygankov, Chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides, said on Wednesday.
"The Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing sides in Syria has received a telephone call from residents of Idlib province, who said the White Helmets organization is preparing a provocation. They said a convoy of six cars bearing the White Helmets logo had arrived in the city of Idlib on Sunday, along with a truck loaded with personal protective equipment, containers with liquid, video equipment and seven missiles. After their arrival, four persons unknown to local residents wearing special clothes and protective gear began equipping the missiles’ heads with the liquid and powder they brought along with them," he said.
According to the Russian military, the organization’s members transported the equipped missiles to the area close to the inhabited community of Maaret al-Numan.
Some non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the White Helmets, earlier claimed that chemical weapons had been used in Syria’s Douma on April 7. According to the statement posted on the organization’s website on April 8, chlorine bombs were dropped on the city killing dozens and poisoning others, who had to be hospitalized.
Specialists from the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides examined Douma on April 9 to find no traces of chemical weapons.
On April 14, the United States, the UK and France delivered missile strikes on Syria’s military and civilian infrastructure facilities. They said the strikes had been a response to the alleged chemical attack in Douma.
Russia and Damascus accuse the White Helmets of having links to terrorists.