MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday denied the existence of any satellite images that, according to British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, allegedly prove Moscow’s involvement in the humanitarian aid convoy attack outside Syria’s Aleppo.
Johnson "is a month late to see Russia’s guilt after looking at some open access satellite images," ministry’s spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said asking the British top diplomat to make these images public and show them to somebody else.
- NATO former military chief believes neither Syria nor Russia could attack UN aid convoy
- Russian Defense Ministry: Aid convoy in Aleppo followed by terrorists’ truck with mortar
- Moscow says attempts to accuse Russia of aid convoy attack are 'outrageous'
- British expert says it’s unprofessional of Johnson to call for protests at Russian embassy
- Russian diplomat says Moscow ashamed for Britain’s foreign secretary
- Russia’s Defense Ministry slams British minister’s allegations on Syria
"There were no Russian aircraft near the humanitarian aid convoy in Aleppo. This is true. The so-called ‘evidence’ that you’ve mentioned will not be worth a penny if made publicly available," he said.
According to Konashenkov, the Russian military has unbiased data on the air situation in Aleppo on the evening of September 19, so Russia knows the "exact reason why the US partners have lost interest in this issue."
On Tuesday, Johnson accused Russia of bombing the humanitarian aid convoy near Aleppo. He said that "all the available evidence, therefore, points to Russian responsibility for the atrocity."
On September 19, the UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian aid convoy of 31 trucks was destroyed near Aleppo. As a result, at least 18 people, including the head of the local office of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), were killed.
Johnson proves protests outside Russian embassies orchestrated by West
Maria Zakharova, the official spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, has said that the latest call of UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for demonstrations outside Russia’s embassy shows that the Western countries’ authorities are behind such protests near Russia’s diplomatic missions.
"Now it becomes clear who is behind the so-called civic organizations, movements and the representatives of civil society who come to Russia’s embassies on different pretexts," Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 TV channel. "The executive branch represented by these ‘Boris Johnsons’ is behind them."
"It turns out that those rallies that are allegedly convened in front of Russia’s embassies are orchestrated," Zakharova added.
The diplomat said on Tuesday that Moscow was ashamed for Johnson, who had called for demonstrations outside Russia’s embassy in London against actions taken by Russia for the fight against terrorism in Syria.