Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that despite the humanitarian pause in Aleppo was officially over, Russia would not resume military operations if militants do not launch new attacks. “The humanitarian pause, as such, had a clear time frame, but the cessation of operations of the Russian Air Force will continue,” he added, stressing that whether it will continue will depend greatly on the militants’ next steps.
On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister’s Spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, asserted that the operation against Islamic State terrorists conducted by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq’s Mosul in conditions of absolute information blockade, has turned into a medieval massacre. According to Zakharova, the situation is worsened by the lack of systemic approach to evacuation of civilians. She also added that nothing like humanitarian corridors has been provided. A ground operation to liberate Mosul from terrorists of Islamic State began on 17th of October. It involves the Iraqi troops, Kurdish units and the US-led coalition. On 31st of October, Iraqi’s forces began assaulting the city.
On Friday, during an interview with China Central Television, Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, asserted that the key goal of the Syrian settlement is to preserve the country’s integrity and prevent its split into terrorist enclaves. According to Medvedev, Russia’s position is that there is no military solution to the Syrian issue. Medvedev noted that the key obstacle for settlement today is the issue of separating those who seek peace and have constructive positions from flagrant terrorist groups. Russian Prime Minister recalled that Russia implements the agreements with the Syrian government on maintaining military balance and takes part in the military operations on fighting against terrorists. Regarding to Bashar al-Assad, Medvedev affirmed that he is the current president and the legitimate president and he is also a key figure of management of Syrian Crisis
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that two Russian officers working for the center for Syrian reconciliation were injured in a militants’ attack near the Castello Road in Aleppo. The humanitarian corridor that is open for the exit of armed militants from Aleppo and located in the western part of Aleppo’s Castello Road was shelled by militants from the east of the city on Friday, the ministry said. The lives of Russian officers are not under threat as they were lightly injured and evacuated to a safe area in Aleppo.
Russian military reported that two Russian soldiers were injured by enemy fire in Aleppo when a humanitarian corridor, they were guarding, was shelled by militants. The attack targeted the western part of the corridor near Castello road. A unilateral ceasefire in the embattled Syrian city came into force at 9am local time on Friday and lasted for ten hours, until 7pm. The pause is intended to allow civilians and armed militants to leave the eastern part of the city through separate humanitarian corridors. Earlier on Thursday, militants intensified their attacks on the government-held western part of the city.
Russia’s embassy in London has sent a letter to the UK Foreign Office to complain about demonstrators who dumped around 800 mannequin limbs outside the building in protest of Russia’s actions in Syria. It is reported that the protesters were members of Syria Campaign and Syria Solidarity, UK groups that say the mannequins are symbolic of Russia’s campaign in Syria. Russia’s embassy said staff and visitors couldn’t enter the building, while police stood by indifferently. It was the first demonstrate against Russia since UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s call for such demonstrations last month. According to Russian authorities the demonstration was controlled by London’s officials.
Russia poses an increasing threat to the stability of the UK and is using all the sophisticated tools at its disposal to achieve its aims, the director general of MI5 has told the Guardian. In the first newspaper interview given by an incumbent MI5 chief in the service’s 107-year history, Andrew Parker said that at a time when much of the focus was on Islamic extremism, covert action from other countries was a growing danger. Most prominent was Russia. Parker said Russia still had plenty of intelligence officers on the ground in the UK, but what was different now from the days of the cold war was the advent of cyberwarfare. Russian targets include military secrets, industrial projects, economic information and government and foreign policy.
Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minitser, during a press conference following talks with his Cypriot counterpart Ionannis Kasoulidis in Moscow, affirmed that the Council of Europe must ensure strict compliance with the Minsk Accords’ originally approved version. Lavrov said that Russia believes it is important to prevent Council of Europe from sliding towards double standards and he described the Council of Europe as an important humanitarian pillar of European architecture. On the 23rd of November, Cyprus will take over the Council of Europe presidency, according to Ioannis Kasoulidis, the Council of Europe is ready to cooperate with Russia which is very important for this agency.
Russian Defense Ministry asserted that terrorists in Aleppo show no sign of de-escalating attacks on residential areas and humanitarian corridors. Commenting on the development of the Russian humanitarian pause, established on October 20 to secure the release of civilians via six specially-created escape routes, the Russian Defense Ministry noted that on Saturday night only 12 Syrians had managed to flee east Aleppo. The MoD noted that terrorists in Aleppo continue to intensively shell the residential areas and humanitarian corridors. The humanitarian pause is the only lifeline extended to civilians in east Aleppo, as the Russian and Syrian Air Forces continue to observe a no-fly-zone over Aleppo, staying at least 10km from the city.
On Saturday, Russian Center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria said in its daily news bulletin posted on the Russian Defense Ministry’s official website, that 40 ceasefire violations by illegal armed groups, which have announced joining the regime of cessation of hostilities have been registered in the past 24 hours in Syria. On Saturday, at 1:15pm, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the city of Damascus came under mortar fire. Moreover, militants of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group used a suicide bomber vehicle against government troops in Aleppo’s Hay al-Ansari district. Five soldiers were killed and seven more wounded in the attack. Russia’s Aerospace Force and Syria’s Air Force have not been delivering strikes on opposition armed units that had announced the cessation of hostilities and reported their location to the Russian or US reconciliation centers.