MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/. Russia hopes that not only the perpetrators but also those who ordered and masterminded the attack on the Russian hospital in Aleppo will be most strongly punished, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

She recalled that Russian military medics had been dispatched to Syria late November for providing assistance to the local population.

"Syrian civilians have long been denied access to proper medical aid," Zakharova said. "We strongly condemn this act of aggression against the hospital and hope that not only the perpetrators, but also those who ordered the attack will be most strongly punished."

She offered condolences to the relatives and dear ones of those killed and injured.

On December 5 a mobile camp of the Russian Defense Ministry in Aleppo came under a mortar attack by militants while extending assistance to local civilians. A mortar shell hit the emergency ward to kill two Russian medics and seriously injure a children’s doctor.