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

RS096

Incident date

October 30, 2015

Location

الباب, Al-Bab, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.371972, 37.51631 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least 10 and as many as 13 civilians were reported killed and 40 injured following alleged Russian airstrikes on Al Bab.

According to Shaam News, “More than 10 civilians were killed in the city of Al Bab controlled by IS in addition to many injured. The aircraft targeted Al Rihawi mosque, Martta Square, Beith Al Shami neighbouhood and Sheikh Faress Mosuqe in the city centre which caused widespread destruction in shops and property.

Daesh propaganda footage shows heavy damage to a retail district.

The Syrian Observatory reported that the Al Bab strike – along with attacks on nearby Al Kalassa and Al Ferdous – between them killed “64 civilians including 28 children and 6 women.”

Among those reported injured was Hussein Badawi, head of the local civil defence. Baladi News was alone in attributing the attack to Assad regime forces.

 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    10 – 13
  • (1 child1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    40
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]

  • Smoke rises above Al Bab Oct 30th following one of many reported Russian airstrikes (via White Helmets)
  • Breaking News for Al Bab facebook page showing the aftermath of the strike (via breaking Bab)
  • Aftermath of the strike (via White Helmets)
  • Translation: The death of 3 martyrs including a woman and her child by Russian planes on the town of Al bab in the eastern countryside. (via moaazalabaas)
  • translation: The martyrdom of 3 people including a woman and her child in an air raid on the city of al bab in eastern Aleppo countryside. (via hammoudday)

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Original strike reports

Russian Military
Official source

The Russian MoD issued no report for the period October 28th-30th 2015. A monthly summary was issued on the evening of October 30th.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    10 – 13
  • (1 child1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    40
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS910

Incident date

June 17, 2016

Location

الثورة‎, Al-Thawrah (Tabaqah), Ar Raqqah, Syria

Geolocation

35.8295049, 38.5360909 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Multiple sources reported Russian warplanes carried out strikes in the region of Ar Raqqah and Al Tabaqa, reportedly killing 13 or more people and injuring up to 20. Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently identifed eight locations:

Near the al Hamza mosque

Near the al Rahma mosque

The first neighbourhood at the entrance of al Bahira Garden

Al Manghiya street

Al Zweikat neighbourhood

Near al Nour mosque

The old gas station, al Gaz Hill

Al Kasara neighbourhood

Activists cited in a report by SNN said that three people had been targeted and killed whilst in a vehicle on a street near Al Mansoura town. The streets of Al Wasat and Al Maghniya also came under ‘heavy bombardment’, according to the report and strikes in these locations resulted in the deaths of six civilians, including women and children and ‘dozens wounded’.

The SNN report outlines how the conflict was unfolding in Tabaqa, an IS controlled area. According to the report, the regime was trying hard to get to Tabaqa through Ithriya road, where significant battles were taking place. The report alleged that Russian warplanes were responsible for airstrikes whilst the regime was trying to advance on the ground.

All4syria News reported that ‘two men a woman and three girls were killed after warplanes bombed their car near the village of Harbh southwest al-Tabaqa city, and three people, one of them displaced from the city of Talbisah, and called Abu Hamza, was killed by a Russian raid yesterday morning at Rusafa road in the town of Mansoura.”

In an article by Zamanalwasl news, the activist Mohamed Osman said that five civilians were killed and seventeen wounded in in raid on the city of al-Tabaqa on the Euphrates River. He made specific mention of the death of a family who owned the Hamadi shop.

The Syrian observatory for Human Rights  reported that ‘at least thirteen were killed’. The report said that warplanes (allegedly Russian) bombed al-Tabaqa, killing a woman, a young man, and injuring other citizens. The report mentioned the death four members of the so-called “Islamic State” organisation.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

the wife of Hamadi al Dakan
Age unknown female killed
child of Hamadi Al Dakan
Child killed
child of Hamadi Al Dakan
Child killed

The victims were named as:

Abu Hamza
Adult male killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5 – 13
  • (3 children4 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    17–20
  • 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 (31) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • Smoke rising from Al Tabaqa following an airstrike on June 17th (via RBSS)
  • Smoke rises following alleged raids on Al Tabaqa (via RBSS)
  • "smoke rising following the burning of an oil transport vehicle targeted by Russian raids in al Sweikat neighbourhood, al tabaqa" (via RBSS)
  • Destruction after alleged Russian raids on Al Tabaqa (via RBSS)

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 June 1st – 31st 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 – 13
  • (3 children4 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    17–20
  • 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 (31) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1948

Incident date

March 7, 2017

Location

مسكنة, Maskanah, Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

35.963172, 38.035655 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between 10 and 13 civilians, including children, were killed and up to another nine were wounded as airstrikes on Maskanah, Aleppo, local sources reported – though reports were conflicted as to whether this was the work of Russia or the Assad regime.

Sources reported between 10 and 13 civilian casualties, however, most said there had been 10 fatalities. @alrefaira added that children were among the victims. 

@ameer_alabad blamed “Russian and Syrian raids”.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    10 – 13
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–9
  • 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 (7) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Original strike reports

Russian Military

Russia has not reported any strikes between March 1st - 31st 2017.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    10 – 13
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–9
  • 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 (7) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1615

Incident date

November 17, 2016

Location

كفربطنا, Kafr Batna, Eastern Ghouta, Damascuc, Syria

Geolocation

33.519286, 36.382427 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A number of civilians were killed and wounded in an airstrike on Kafr Batna, Eastern Ghouta, according to local media – though reports were conflicted as to which belligerent was responsible for the event.

Similar to most other sources reporting on this event, @kafrbatna2011 did not identify the warplanes responsible, they did however report that it was a guided missile: “the warplanes targeted the centre of the city of Kafr Batna by airstrike with a guided missile, resulting in a large number are wounded.”

LCCSY directly attributed responsibility for the event to Russia, stating that there were “13 martyrs in Damascus and its countryside, most of them killed in the Russian raids on Kafr Batna and Saqba.”

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights pointed out that both regime forces and Russian warplanes were operating around Eastern Ghouta that day [17th Nov]. However, they do point towards Russia being responsible for the incident in Kafr Batna: “The regime forces and warplanes shelled areas in the city of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta, which killed two persons including a child, and injured several others. Also the warplanes bombed areas in the city of Saqba and the towns of Hammuriyyeh and Kafr Batna in the Eastern Ghouta, which killed 4 persons and injured others in Saqba.”

Whilst the sources indicate a death toll of between four and 13, none of them attributed a death toll that is specific to the airstrike on Kafr Batna alone.

 

 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 13
  • 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 (8) [ 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 specific strikes between November 1st – 30th 2016.

On 6 January 2017, Russia, however, reported: “Since November 8, 2016, the aircraft carrier group of the Northern Fleet consisting of the heavy aircraft carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the large ASW ship Severomorsk, as well as auxiliary vessels of the Black Sea Fleet, has been fulfilling counterterrorist missions on the territory of Syria”, adding that ”in the course of two months of their participation in the combat actions, naval aviation pilots have carried out 420 combat sorties, 117 of them were night ones”.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 13
  • 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 (8) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1910

Incident date

February 19, 2017

Location

تل ماعز , Tal Maez, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.2019, 37.78645 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between three and 13 civilians died in an alleged Russian airstrike on Tal Maez, according to sources on the ground.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, “four civilians, including two children and a woman, died when suspected Russian warplanes missiles fired on Tal al Mo’ez village in Aleppo governorate eastern suburbs, February 19, 2017.”

On February 19th, LCCSY reported “13 martyrs from #Aleppo, [and that] most of them passed away in the Russian airstrikes on #Tal_Maez.”.

The Violations Documentation Centre listed three unidentified adult males as killed by “Russian troops”.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 13
  • (2 children1 woman3 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (4) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Martyrs' video: '@0’13” 10 Deir Hafer, unidentified people [in alleged Russian raids on Tal Maez]'

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 13
  • (2 children1 woman3 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (4) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS409

Incident date

January 16, 2016

Location

برلهين, Berlheen, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.25381, 37.40072 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

According to Alaan TV, Russian raids killed eight civilians in Berlheen.

Halab News put the death toll higher, at 13, but did not identify the warplanes responsible.

LCCSY reported that 15 civilians died in strikes on Tal Maksour and Berlheen, but they did not say who was to blame.

Aleppo journalist Khaledaboalmjed said that 28 civilians died in tens of airstrikes on Berlheen, Tak Maksour, Tadeef, Qasr el Bureji, Um Shkeef and Al Bab in Aleppo’s eastern countryside.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8 – 13
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (4) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Original strike reports

Russian Military

In its report for military actions on January 19 2016, the Kremlin reports carrying out strikes in Aleppo governorate: “In the course of the last four days, aircraft of the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic have performed 157 combat sorties engaging 579 objects of terrorists’ infrastructure in the provinces of Aleppo, Raqqah, Latakia, Homs, Hama and Deir ez-Zor.“

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8 – 13
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (4) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS1935

Incident date

February 28, 2017

Location

حطلة, Hatla, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

35.34169, 40.19897 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between 11 and 13 civilians were killed at a river crossing point in Hatla by alleged Russian aircraft, local sources reported. Other civilians were wounded but no specific numbers were reported. All sources blamed Russia for the raid.

Sources reported that women and children were included in the death toll.

There was not only destruction to the water crossing, but also to residential homes and buildings nearby.

It was not until a report on March 2nd by Euphrates, which confirmed the death toll had risen to 13. 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    11 – 13
  • (0–1 children0–1 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (6) [ 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 specific strikes between February 1st - 31st 2017.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    11 – 13
  • (0–1 children0–1 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (6) [ collapse]

Incident Code

RS794

Incident date

May 10, 2016

Location

بنش, Binnish, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.958429, 36.711587 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between 10 and 14 civilians including two to three children and one woman died in an airstrike on Binnish which struck a mosque, a market and houses, according to multiple local sources. The majority of reports point to this being the work of the Assad regime, though  others, like LCCSY, alleged that Russia was responsible. Some sources did not identify the planes that carried out the attack.

Step News posted a video saying that a warplane raid in a market in Binnish led to a massacre. An initial report by the Shaam News Network blamed the regime, saying that the town of Binnish – next to Al Faw’a – was one of the locations supposedly covered by a cessation of fighting under the  “Al Faw’a – Al Zabadanii” agreement. It added that “Assad warplanes violated this agreement several times”.

Activists told SNN that the targeting of civilian homes killed 10 individuals and wounded 20 more. They named Abdul Ghaffar Harb, a military commander of Ahrar al-Sham (Al Qaeda) as a victim. A further report by the network said that activists had documented the death of an entire family when the Al Sheikh Sh’eib mosque was struck by “warplanes“. (This time it did not identify them.)

The victims were named as Muhannad Abdul Khaliq and his wife and two children. SNN added that a third child of the family – “no more than seven years old” – was in intensive care in a hospital on the Turkey border. Two raids were reported, one of which was on the mosque. They put the death toll at 12, and said that most of them were passers-by in front of the mosque. Several other sources also reported the death of two children, though in a tweet by Gnat it was said that three children from the same family were killed.

SNN also published a video showing the strike and aftermath, which they said had been carried out by “Sukhoi 24” warplanes. Other media organisations also posted footage:

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights did not identify the warplanes responsible, but said that at least 10 died, including two children “and a military commander of a battalion belonging to the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham“. It later posted a video on Twitter, showing the destruction caused. A video posted by Orient News showed what they said was a vacuum missile flying through the air and striking the mosque. It alleged that it was the work of the regime.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights also attributed the incident to the regime, and put the death toll at nine civilians. The White Helmets reported at least 10 non-combatants killed, but did not say who was responsible.

Two additional victims were named by the Violations Documentation Center. It blamed Russia.

 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (4)

Muhannad Abdul Khaliq
Adult male killed
Muhannad Abdul Khaliq's wife
Age unknown female killed
Muhannad Abdul Khaliq's child
Age unknown killed
Muhannad Abdul Khaliq's child
Age unknown killed

The victims were named as:

Abdul Baset Abdul Salam Jabaq
Adult male killed
Saad Mustafa Ameen Astaifi
Age unknown male killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    10 – 14
  • (2–3 children1 woman3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–25
  • 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 (38) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (19) [ collapse]

  • Bodies are lined up following a strike on Banis, May 10th (via SNN)
  • Abdul Baset Abdul Salam Jabaq (via VDC)

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Saad Mustafa Ameen Astaifi (via VDC)
  • Saad Mustafa Ameen Astaifi (via VDC)
  • Video shows the destruction caused by raids carried out by warplanes on areas on Bennesh city in Idlib province (via SOHR)
  • Ten martyrs and twenty wounded by air raids on the city of Bensh countryside Idlib (via SNN)

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    A civilian burned in warplane shelling in Binnish. (via 111_saleh)

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Three children killed all from same family in suspected Russian warplane shelling in Binnish. (via Gnat)

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Three children killed all from same family in suspected Russian warplane shelling in Binnish. (via Gnat)

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Victims of the airstrike. (via SNN)
  • Victims of the airstrike. (via SNN)
  • Aftermath of the airstrike. (via SNN)
  • Aftermath of the airstrike. (via SNN)
  • victims died in government warplanes missiles fired on Binnish city in Idlib governorate, May 10. (via SNHR)
  • government warplanes (allies) fired missiles on Al Sheikh Shu’ayeb Mosque in Binnish city in Idlib governorate, causing a massacre, damaging the mosque severely, and rendering it inoperable, May 10. (via SNHR)
  • The civil defence in the southern Aleppo countryside helps the civil defence team in Idlib to pull out the martyrs resulting from the massacre at Binsh. (via White Helmets)
  • The civil defence in the southern Aleppo countryside helps the civil defence team in Idlib to pull out the martyrs resulting from the massacre at Binsh. (via White Helmets)
  • The civil defence in the southern Aleppo countryside helps the civil defence team in Idlib to pull out the martyrs resulting from the massacre at Binsh. (via White Helmets)

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    The civil defence in the southern Aleppo countryside helps the civil defence team in Idlib to pull out the martyrs resulting from the massacre at Binsh. (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 May 1st – 31st

Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    10 – 14
  • (2–3 children1 woman3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–25
  • 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 (38) [ collapse]