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Boris Johnson's Syria war crime claims 'Russophobic hysteria', says Moscow Russia scorns Boris Johnson's 'hysteria' as bombs hammer Aleppo
(about 3 hours later)
Accusations by the UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson of a Russian attack on an aid convoy in Syria are “Russophobic hysteria”, the Russian defence ministry has said. Moscow has responded forcefully to accusations by Britain’s foreign secretary about its involvement in an attack on an aid convoy in Syria last month, as intense violence in Aleppo’s besieged east continued into Wednesday morning.
“There were no Russian planes in the area of the aid convoy to Aleppo. That is a fact,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. The Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday that Boris Johnson’s comments that Russia should be investigated for war crimes in Aleppo were “Russophobic hysteria”.
Johnson said on Tuesday there was evidence showing Russia was responsible for the attack. “There were no Russian planes in the area of the aid convoy to Aleppo. That is a fact,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. Johnson’s speech was “a storm in a glass of muddy London water”, he added.
Making his frontbench debut as foreign secretary in a Commons debate, Johnson said Russia should be investigated for war crimes in Aleppo and took the unusual step of calling for demonstrations by anti-war protesters outside the Russian embassy in London. Making his frontbench debut as foreign secretary in a Commons debate on Tuesday, Johnson said “the mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind small” as he predicted those responsible for war crimes in Syria would eventually face charges before the international criminal court. He also took the unusual step of calling for demonstrations by anti-war protesters outside the Russian embassy in London.
Johnson said “the mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind small” as he predicted those responsible for war crimes in Syria would eventually face charges before the international criminal court.
Johnson’s remarks underline the degree to which relations between Russia and the west have deteriorated to levels not seen since the end of the cold war.Johnson’s remarks underline the degree to which relations between Russia and the west have deteriorated to levels not seen since the end of the cold war.
Johnson appeared to reject calls for a no-fly zone over areas of Syria, saying: “We cannot commit to a no-fly zone unless we are prepared to confront and perhaps shoot down planes or helicopters that violate that zone. We need to think very carefully about the consequences.” Residents of eastern Aleppo said air raids using powerful bunker-buster bombs which resumed on Tuesday continued into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“Unbelievable shelling and airstrikes have woken me up,” said Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, a teacher and activist in the city, in a message sent just after 5am local time.
Doctors said they had documented 34 dead and 216 injured on Tuesday alone, adding that the total number was likely to be higher as some families retrieved their dead from bombarded sites without taking them to local hospitals.
In the neighbourhood of Bustan al-Qasr, residents said bunker buster bombs were deployed with devastating power. Doctors at a nearby hospital shared images of the dead and wounded from the area, including children.
One doctor described the bombing on Tuesday as akin to “resurrection day”.
“There appears to be a determination to continue the war in Syria and no hope for a ceasefire,” he said. “The result is more destruction and the death of innocents.”
“Me and my daughter [were] trying to go home from the school, the warplanes are bombing and breaking the sound barrier, both of us are afraid and praying, everyone in Aleppo lives this life,” said another doctor.
The resumption of intensive airstrikes by Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its Russian allies followed several days of relative calm in which the government reiterated its demands for rebels in the eastern districts of Syria’s commercial capital to lay down their arms and abandon the city, and for civilians to flee to the regime-held western half.
The see-saw of destruction appears aimed at sowing division among members of the opposition and civilians, about 250,000, still living in the area, pressuring them with the prospect of prolonged suffering to abandon their redoubt.
The strategy has worked in other areas of Syria, with rebels in Homs and the suburbs of Damascus surrendering after years of encirclement and siege that have caused untold civilian deaths.
Humanitarian agencies are increasingly alarmed at the devastation in Aleppo. The charity Médecins Sans Frontières said just 11 ambulances and 35 doctors were left in the city to serve the quarter of a million people living under siege and airstrikes. The organisation said hospitals had been hit at least 23 times since the siege of Aleppo began in July.
“They have been abandoned by the world. The whole world is witnessing the city being destroyed, but nobody is doing anything to stop it,” said Carlos Francisco, the head of MSF’s mission in Syria. “We are talking about a city exhausted by five years of war, which has received no aid since July, when the siege began – a city that is being devastated, flattened, in front of our eyes.”
On Tuesday Johnson appeared to reject calls for a no-fly zone over areas of Syria, saying: “We cannot commit to a no-fly zone unless we are prepared to confront and perhaps shoot down planes or helicopters that violate that zone. We need to think very carefully about the consequences.”
But, he added, he was sympathetic to those who made the call, and wanted to work through the options with Britain’s allies.But, he added, he was sympathetic to those who made the call, and wanted to work through the options with Britain’s allies.
The Foreign Office is known to be preparing for a more assertive Syrian policy if Hillary Clinton becomes the US president in January, but senior UN figures have warned that eastern Aleppo is likely to have fallen to forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad by then if the bombardment continues at its present rate. The Foreign Office is known to be preparing for a more assertive Syrian policy if Hillary Clinton becomes the US president in January, but senior UN figures have warned that eastern Aleppo is likely to have fallen to forces loyal to Assad by then.
Johnson called for demonstrations outside the Russian embassy in London and asked why leftwing protest groups seemed to lack the outrage over Russian conduct in Syria. “I would certainly like to see demonstrations outside the Russian embassy,” he said. “Where is the Stop the War coalition?”
He insisted he was not leading an anti-Russia campaign, pointing out the US had done its utmost to work with the Russian foreign ministry to bring about a ceasefire. The US “had concluded, rightly, that Russia was determined to help President Bashar al-Assad’s onslaught regardless of any agreement”.
He added: “If Russia continues on its current path I believe that this great country is in danger of becoming a pariah nation, and if President [Vladimir] Putin’s strategy is to restore the greatness and the glory of Russia, then I believe he risks his ambition turning to ashes in the face of international contempt for what is happening in Syria.”
A post on the Russian embassy’s Twitter feed said:
Very unusual call from the Foreign Secretary to hold demonstrations in front of the Russian embassy. New form of British diplomacy? pic.twitter.com/rzxUkGyyrQ
The press secretary at the Russian embassy said in a statement later: “The jihadists keep terrorising the civilians and fighting, rejecting ceasefire and humanitarian aid deliveries.
“Britain’s logic implies putting an end to fighting terrorists and their allies. Our logic is different. Fight on to destroy the jihadists, sparing the civilians.”
In a debate that revealed the deep foreign policy fissure in the Labour party, the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, called for the UK to back the escorting of jihadi fighters out of eastern Aleppo, as had happened in Homs. She said a ceasefire could be implemented afterwards if the proposal, put forward by the UN special envoy for Syria, was carried out.
A briefing paper issued by the Labour party to MPs referred to the possibility that Russia had committed war crimes but only if the targeting of civilians was deliberate. Thornberry said statesmanship, not brinkmanship was required, and that Russia and the US were one wrong decision away from a world war.
Johnson rejected her support for the jihadi proposal, saying a ceasefire had to precede the removal of al-Nusra fighters, a group regarded as the Syrian franchise of al-Qaida.
Reuters contributed to this report