"The statements of the" White Helmets "- fake": the Russian Defense Ministry has denied reports of an air strike on the market in Idlib

The allegations that Russian aviation allegedly carried out a blow to the market in the Syrian province of Idlib are false, said the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The Western mass media previously distributed this information with reference to the White Helmets non-governmental human rights organization.

“Statements by anonymous representatives of the White Helmets funded by the United Kingdom and the United States about allegedly striking the market in the Russian town of Maarrat al-Nuuman (Idlib Province) - a fake, by aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Force,” the statement said.

The defense department stressed that the representatives of the Air and Space Forces of Russia did not perform any tasks in this region of the Syrian Arab Republic.

On Monday, July 22, information spread by White Helmets and the Syrian Human Rights Monitoring Center spread to foreign media, according to which, allegedly, as a result of aerial bombardment by Russian forces of the market in Maarrat al-Nuuman, at least 23 people were killed.

Add that last week the Russian Defense Ministry accused that Russian infantrymen and members of special forces allegedly participated in hostilities in Idlib. As noted in the department, this "regular fake" belonged to the British agency Reuters. At the same time, the department reminded that the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation had never been in the SAR, and the Russian employees of the Ministry of Defense are stationed in the Syrian province in agreement with Turkey and are monitoring the ceasefire.

"White helmets" pay for denigrating Russia "

“White helmets” is an organization that has long been engaged exclusively in provocations of various kinds, said the deputy chairman of the committee of the Federation Council on international affairs, the head of the commission for the protection of state sovereignty Andrei Klimov. According to the senator, the “white sharks” are interested in slandering Russia, because they are paid for it.

“At the same time, in Damascus, they are set to resolve the conflict as soon as possible. I just talked to colleagues from Syria. I can not say that they have some kind of pessimism there. On the contrary, they are committed to the early cessation of hostilities and the socio-economic transformation of the country, its restoration. On this occasion, they are already preparing an international forum, ”added Klimov in an interview with RT.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior fellow at the Center for European Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that provocative messages about Russia appeared the day after the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Syria. In a congratulatory telegram from the Kremlin, it was emphasized that Moscow will continue to help Damascus in restoring sovereignty and economic independence.

“Now a part of the country is occupied by the Americans without the consent of the Syrian authorities and the United States is trying to legitimize it. It was in order to divert attention from the American presence and other things that another attempt was made to create an artificial responsibility of Russia for some kind of illegal actions. This suggests that our opponents do not feel confident in Syria and do not see prospects. Therefore, they are trying to influence Russia. The goal is clear - to blacken Russia, on the one hand, and on the other, to hinder the process of normalizing the situation in Syria, ”Olenchenko said in an interview with RT.

Recall that the White Helmets have repeatedly been accused of collaborating with terrorist groups. In addition, the organization is known for filming staged videos. One of them, dedicated to the "chemical attack" in the city of Duma, served as a pretext for the United States, Britain and France to launch a missile attack on Syria on the night of April 14. Russia initially talked about falsifying charges against Damascus, but only 10 months later in the West it was reported that it was a fake. The corresponding statement was made by the producer of the British broadcasting company BBC Riam Dalati.

During this period of time, the request of the United States, Canada, and a number of European countries carried out the evacuation of 800 White Helmets activists and their family members from Syria, where government forces continued to conquer territories from militants. At the same time, Washington continues to finance the organization, despite the short-term suspension in 2018.

“We are sure that sooner or later everyone will see the true face of the“ White Helmets ”. We call on their Western sponsors to realize the true state of affairs and stop protecting those who are in fact provocateurs and extremists, ”the Russian Foreign Ministry said in November 2018.