Russian Military in Syria

Russian Military in Syria

A Russian combat aircraft at Khmeimim airbase in Syria being prepared for action. (Russian Ministry of Defence)

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Incident Code

RS1291

Incident date

September 20, 2016

Location

خان طومان, Khan Touman, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.1177702, 37.0513916 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between 14 and 18 civilians, mostly emergency doctors and nurses, were killed in an attack on a medical centre in Khan Tuman, Aleppo, local sources reported. Most reports alleged Russian warplanes were responsible for the attack, which specifically targeted the centre. However, the Syrian Network for Human Rights also pointed to the regime in some posts.

According to Sky News Arabia, “the Russian air force raided the town of Khan Touman, around two hours after midnight, where a medical point of belonging to the union of relief organizations and medical care [UOSSM] was targeted, killing 14 people, including medical personnel, doctors, medics and ambulance drivers.”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights stated that fixed-wing warplanes “we believe are Russian” executed the strike – though there was some confused reporting, for in several other posts SN4HR blamed “regime shelling”.

Shaam News Network reported that “ambulance crews rushed to the target location to rescue the injured and take them to medical hospitals, but they came under direct bombardment during the performance of their tasks.”

Halab News Network (HNN) identified nine civilian fatalities – all reportedly rescue workers – in its list of martyrs.
In addition, HNN said eight other rescue workers were killed but were unable to identify them. Five of them were reportedly members of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM).

Syria News Desk added that over a dozen civilians were wounded, some left in a  critical condition. Some had reportedly been in the ambulances already when the medical centre was hit.

Finally, @baladinetwork tweeted four photographs of damage to the medical centre and ambulances.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Abu Tarek al Homsi
Adult male killed
Abu al Teeb al Homsi
Adult male killed

The victims were named as:

Abu Abdallah Sabouniye
Adult male killed
Abu Mahmoud
Adult male killed
Abu Hasan Tubbiye
Adult male killed
Abu al Mu’tassem Othman
Adult male killed
Abu Hanifa
Adult male killed
Abu Ibrahim
Adult killed
Mohammad Ahmad al Yusuf
Adult male killed
Abd al Rahman Mnafihi
Adult male killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    14 – 18
  • (10 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (39) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • The contested strikes reportedly destroyed a medical center in Khan Touma, Aleppo, including an ambulance (via Baladi Network)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    14 – 18
  • (10 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (39) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1290

Incident date

September 20, 2016

Location

تلبيسة, Talbisah, Homs, Syria

Geolocation

34.8420186, 36.711974 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between one and four civilians were killed and two to 25 injured in air or artillery strikes on the city of Talbissa outside Homs, local sources reported.

The lowest death count was given by @syriapost1 as one civilian – but with 10 more wounded.

Among the dead were at least one child, woman, and young man, tweeted @Syriamubasher, while other sources stated multiple children were wounded in the attacks. The Syrian Network for Human Rights tweeted a picture of a small child who had been wounded in his left arm.

Most reports claimed four civilians were killed in the strikes. For example, Homs Media Center said: “artillery shelling targeted the neighbourhood the city of Talbisah which resulted in four martyrs and more than 25 injured.”

Sources disagreed over whether the planes were Russian or the regime’s.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 4
  • (1–2 children1 woman1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–25
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (17) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • A small boy, reportedly injured in the alleged Assad or Russian airstrikes in Talbisah, Homs (via SN4HR)
  • Pictures showing the alleged Assad or Russian airstrikes in Talbisah, Homs (via Baladi Network)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 4
  • (1–2 children1 woman1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–25
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (17) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1289

Incident date

September 20, 2016

Location

حي ‏المرجة‬, Marjah (Aleppo), Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.1855676, 37.1802235 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between one and four civilians were killed, and between two and thirteen wounded, when cluster and barrel bombs struck al Marja in Aleppo, according to local media. Some sources accused Russian warplanes, while others claimed regime helicopters were involved.

The Syrian Observatory for Human referred to one fatality, while Twitt-book News counted four.

@Radioharafm tweeted, “Martyrs and injuries in the Marjah neighborhood targeted by warplanes with cluster bombs in Aleppo,” while @RFS_NORTH tweeted, “Syrian helicopters targeted the neighborhoods Bab al Hadeed and Marjah with barrel bombs in the besieged city of Aleppo.”

According to Almodon, the helicopters dropped more than 10 barrel bombs.

However, other sources accused Russian warplanes. @HalabTodayTV tweeted about “injuries in a Russian aerial bombardment,”

Notably, Shaabnews tweeted that both Russian warplanes and Syrian helicopters participated in the bombings.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 4
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–13
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 4
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–13
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1288

Incident date

September 20, 2016

Location

حي السكري, Sukkari , Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.17594, 37.14111 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between two and five civilians including a child and up two women died and several more were wounded in an alleged Russian or Assad regime airstrike on Aleppo’s Al Sukkari neighbourhood, according to local media. Al Jazeera said that a six-storey building was destroyed in the attack.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a child and two women died. Orient put the death toll at five civilians, while the lowest death count was given at two by the Step News Agency.

A number of sources reported that explosive barrel bombs were dropped on the neighbourhood.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 5
  • (1 child2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (20) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • The civil defence rescues civilians from under the rubble in the immediate aftermath of the strikes in al-Sukkari, Aleppo (via White Helmets)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 5
  • (1 child2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (20) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1287

Incident date

September 19, 2016

Location

حي باب النيرب, Bab al Nairab , Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.1918713, 37.1722841 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Local news outlets alleged that either Russian or Syrian forces were responsible for two civilian deaths, including one woman’s, on the road between Bab al Mayrab and al Salheen in Aleppo.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said “fixed-wing warplanes, believed to be Russian, fired missiles at the residential homes on the road leading to Bab Al Nayrab neighborhood from the Al Salhein neighborhood. As a result, two individuals including one woman was killed.”

HalabToday TV also claimed Russian warplanes struck Bab Al Nayrab.

Baladi Network, by contrast, tweeted that the planes belonged to the Assad regime, while some other sources reported that explosive barrel bombs had been dropped on the area.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (11) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (11) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1286

Incident date

September 19, 2016

Location

الفردوس, Al Fardous (Aleppo), Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.180995, 37.151892 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Local media reported at least one and as many as four dead as a result of either Russian airstrikes or regime shelling in the al Ferdos neighborhood of Aleppo on September 19th.

Almodon News said that “Russian fighter jets bombed the eastern districts of Aleppo,” including al Ferdos.

Smart News and Alaraby News both used the same language, stating, “Russian warplanes and other subsidiaries of the system targeted Al Fardous and killed one person.”

Buraydh news claimed “four civilian casualties after helicopters targeted Fardous with explosive barrels”.

LCCSY tweeted that Assad’s forces were striking al Ferdos with heavy artillery. Thiqa News Agency also tweeted, “injuries from artillery shelling on Al Fardous neighbourhood caused Assad’s forces stationed in Aleppo Citadel.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 4
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 4
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1285

Incident date

September 19, 2016

Location

حي ‏المرجة‬, Marjah, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.1855676, 37.1802235 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between one and 24 civilians were killed and up to 13 wounded in intense air strikes with barrel bombs and napalm on the al Marja neighbourhood of Aleppo, local sources reported.

About half the sources stated only that “warplanes” were involved, while the other half said Russian planes were responsible.

One source, the Shaam News Network (SNN), referred to “the Russian/Assad enemy planes.”

A number of sources, including SNN, Twitt-book News, ALAMAWI, and Syria2011 News, claimed four deaths. However, Syriahr News and @RFS_NORTH referred only to “a man martyred.”

@BNN_2016 tweeted that “dozens” were killed in al Marja.

LCCSY and @AleppoAMC said that people were buried in the rubble and that one girl had been dug out alive.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 24
  • (1 woman1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (23) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 24
  • (1 woman1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (23) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1284

Incident date

September 19, 2016

Location

حي السكري, Sukkari (Aleppo), Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.17594, 37.14111 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Local media reported between five and six dead from airstrikes in the neighbourhood of al Sukkari, Aleppo. Five fatalities were identified by name by both Halab News and Syria2011 News. In addition, both sources claimed a sixth death, of an anonymous, 35-year-old individual.

Most sources agreed that Russian warplanes were responsible. For example, LCCSY tweeted that “Russian aviation targeted the  neighbourhood of Sukkari in the city with cluster bombs.”

In a Facebook post, LCCSY also said that people were still stuck under the rubble after Russian warplanes carried out missile attacks on the residential buildings in the Maadi, Salhin, Marja, Sukkari, and Qatirji neighbourhoods in Aleppo city.”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights stated that “fixed-wing warplanes, believed to be Russian, fired missiles targeting the vicinity of a vegetable market in the Al Sukkari neighbourhood”.

But other sources said regime warplanes or helicopters were responsible. Shahbapress tweeted that regime planes used barrel bombs in al Sukkari, while JisirTV referred to “the massacre perpetrated by regime forces.”

Some sources did not distinguish between the regime and Russian forces: The Shaam News Network claimed: “after the end of the truce, the Russian/Assad enemy planes raided the neighbourhoods of the city of Aleppo and the surrounding towns.”

A YouTube video posted by The White Helmets showed attempts to extinguish a fire in a building.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Riad Tqiqh
46 years old male killed
Abu Raad al-Halabi
50 years old male killed
Ali Ajami
18 years old male killed
Diba Intibah
36 years old female killed
Amina Salah Obeid.
18 years old female killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5 – 6
  • (2 women3–4 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (24) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • Immediate aftermath of the strikes on al-Sukkari (via Syrianpc)

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    An injured civilian is treated following the strikes targeting al-Sukkari, Aleppo (via AleppoAMC)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5 – 6
  • (2 women3–4 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (24) [ collapse]