MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Mass graves of civilians who had been tortured and massacred by gunmen have been found in Aleppo after the city was recaptured from militants, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, told reporters on Monday.
"Big burial sites of dozens of Syrians who had been tortured and massacred have been found. Many of them lack body parts, most were shot in the head," he said.
All the military crimes carried out by terrorists in Syria’s Aleppo are being carefully documented and will be made public, the spokesman has added.
"Everything is being carefully documented, including the terrorists’ serious military crimes, to be made public."
Ammunition depots for several infantry battalions have been found in the eastern part of Syria’s Aleppo after its liberation from militants, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman added:
"Seven large ammunition depots that would have sufficed to arm several infantry battalions have been found along with a large number of recording documents."
Mines 'almost everywhere'
Before the liberation of Eastern Aleppo representatives of the so-called moderate opposition planted mines "virtually everywhere" in that city, including in children’s toys, the Russian general noted.
"Over the days preceding liberation, when officers of the Russian reconciliation center organized convoys of buses into militants-controlled districts, ‘moderate oppositionists’ were taking active efforts to ‘prepare’ the territory, planting mines virtually everywhere: streets, entryways to houses, cars, motor bikes and even children’s toys. And they had both time and munitions for that," Konashenkov said.
He said that the humanitarian operation in Aleppo of the Russian reconciliation center "will bust a lot of myths Western politicians have been feeding the world community with for several years." "First results of examinations of Aleppo’s districts that were liberated from the so-called opposition are literally shocking," he said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported about Aleppo’s liberation on December 23. The operation was conducted in two stages. First, 115 quarters with an area of about 82 square kilometers were liberated. About 110,000 people were evacuated from the city. Stage two of the operation was liberation of southern areas of Eastern Aleppo. Ceasefire regime came into effects from December 15 to ensure the humanitarian operation on evacuation of radicals and their families. As many as 34,000 people, including 14,000 men and about 8,500 children, were evacuated.
'White Helmets'
No volunteer rescuers, sometimes referred to as "White Helmets," have been identified in eastern Aleppo after it has been retaken from the militants, Konashenkov stressed:
"In eastern Aleppo we have failed to identify yet any so-called volunteer rescuers, sometimes referred to as ‘White Helmets’, who have already enjoyed red carpet reception in Paris and London and were almost nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize."