PHOTO: Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov (Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS)

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Facing more documentation of its killing of more than 1,000 Syrian civilians, Russia lashed out at Amnesty International on Wednesday.

Amnesty issued a report yesterday that detailed six Russian bombings which left more than 200 civilians dead, including mass killings in Idlib and Homs Provinces. The organization found that “there were no military targets or fighters in the immediate vicinity of the areas” and indicated that the attacks may “constitute war crimes”.

The report is far from the first setting out the damage and casualties from Russia’s bombing, more than 80% of which has been on opposition-held areas. Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, and Medicins Sans Frontieres have all established Russian attacks on infrastructure and civilian sites, including hospitals, markets, schools, bakeries, grain silos, and a water treatment plant. HRW has also published findings about the use of banned cluster munitions by Moscow.

Russia has denied specific incidents, such as the attacks on hospitals — claiming that they did not exist — and the mosque, only for its video evidence to be discredited through further investigations.

But yesterday was the first time that Moscow had reacted with a sweeping attack on an entire organization. Initially, the Kremlin held the line by saying that it had not seen the report. Then the Defense Ministry railed against the “same cliches and fakes that we have repeatedly denounced before”.

Stepping up the rhetoric, the Ministry issued a threat on Twitter:

The intimidation only brought more derision. One reader responded, “I hear that threatening and intimidating humanitarian organizations is a good PR look,” while another took up the threat: “Why? So you can “silence” the leak proper Russian way?”

Russian State outlets — including TASS, Sputnik, and RT — tried to convert a cautious UN response into another defense: “UN Can’t Confirm Amnesty’s ‘Remote Investigation’ of Russia’s Strikes in Syria”.

In response to a question at a daily briefing, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said:

The Secretary‑General notes with concern Amnesty International’s report on alleged violations of international humanitarian law resulting from the Russian airstrikes in Syria. The UN cannot independently confirm the cases presented in the report.

As our monthly report to the Security Council has clearly illustrated, civilians continue to suffer immensely in Syria, including through the use of indiscriminate weapons against civilians and civilian infrastructure. And this must stop.

Claims: Regime Deal for ISIS to Leave Damascus Suburbs

Claims are circulating that the Assad regime has reached a deal for the Islamic State to leave areas south of Damascus, moving fighters to the ISIS center of Raqqa in northern Syria.

Activists write that dozens of buses arrived in Hajar al-Aswad on Thursday to transport the militants to the north, where the Islamic State is under increasing pressure from Kurdish-led forces.

The Islamic State had expanded their hold on areas near the capital in April, moving from Hajar al-Aswad into the Yarmouk camp, where more than 15,000 Palestinians had long been beset by the Syrian military’s siege and clashes between pro-regime militias, rebels, and ISIS.

Foreign Minister: We Are Ready for Negotiations

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Thursday that the Assad regime is ready for talks with the opposition.

During a visit to Beijing, al-Moallem portrayed the regime’s willingness to fulfil a UN resolution, passed last week, for ceasefires and negotiations:

[We are] ready to participate in the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva without any foreign interference.

Our delegation will be ready as soon as we receive a list of the opposition delegation. We hope that this dialogue will be successful to help us in having a national unity government.

This government will compose a constitutional committee to look for a new constitution with a new law of election so the parliamentary election will be held within the period of 18 months, more or less.

The Foreign Minister made no reference to the fate of President Assad, whose departure has been a condition for opposition involvement in talks. He also did not refer to the dispute between international powers over which opposition and rebel groups are “acceptable” and which should be labelled as “terrorist”.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said earlier this week that he is hoping for opposition-regime negotiations will begin in late January.

4 More Iranian Troops Killed

Iranian media have confirmed the deaths of four more troops in Syria on Wednesday, bringing the acknowledged toll since October 7 to 110.

No details were given of the location or circumstances of the deaths, although Iranian soldiers and Iranian-led foreign militia have been prominent in the offensive south of Aleppo.

Eight Iranian commanders have been killed since October 7, including the overall commander of Iran’s forces in Syria, General Hossein Hamedani.