Conflict

Russian Military in Syria

Incident Code

RS4546

Location

البارة, Al Bara, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.68599, 36.54239
Accuracy: Town

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: July 23, 2025

(Previous Incident Codes: R4294RS4533)

One civilian, a man, was reported killed and an unknown number of civilians sustained injuries as a result of alleged Regime, Russian and/or Iranian artillery shelling on the town of Al Bara in the Jabal Al-Zawiya area in the southern countryside of Idlib on November 23, 2020.

Baladi News and the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported that the belligerent struck civilian houses. Both sources also stated that the attack on Al Bara was a violation of the ceasefire agreement reached following consultations between the Turkish and Russian presidents, which came into effect on March 6, 2020.

Regarding civilian harm, Halab Today TV tweeted that “A civilian was killed in the town of Al-Bara in the southern countryside of Idlib, as a result of artillery shelling by the regime forces on the town.” Similarly, The Syrian Civil Defense reported that “[a] person was killed, after being seriously wounded in the head” and that “The Syrian Civil Defense team worked to transfer the injured to the nearest medical point to provide treatment, but he died of his serious injuries. Multiple sources, including Stormagency1 and @anasanas84, identified the victim a the young man Muhammad Eido Shartah.

The SNHR was the only sources reporting wounded, saying that “[a] man named as Muhammad Eidou Shartah was killed while other civilians were injured when Syrian regime artillery forces fired shells at houses in [Al Bara].

The SNHR also noted that “[a]ttacks of this nature spread terror and panic among civilians, leading them to flee their lands and homes in an attempt to reach safety, and forcibly displacing them, with the number of internally displaced persons within Syria now reaching approximately 6.5 million Syrian citizens in total.”

Sources were conflicted as to who was responsible for the attack with @HalabTodayTV and @aa_arabic attributing the attack to the Syrian Regime, while @anasanas84 and Scoop referred to Russia as having carried out the strike on Al Bara. @Ahmad_1alshble said that both Russia and the Regime were responsible for the attack and @Marea_Elshame blamed Russian and Iranian forces.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Victims

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Artillery
Strike Status
Contested strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Contested
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported killed
1
1 Man
Civilians reported injured
2

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Al Bara (البارة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.68599, 36.54239. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Military Statements

Russian Military Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Russian Military
Russian Military position on incident
Not yet assessed
Syrian Regime Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Syrian Regime
Syrian Regime position on incident
Not yet assessed

Media From Sources (9)