Russia's air campaign in Syria has killed hundreds of civilians and caused massive destruction in residential areas, according to a report released Wednesday by Amnesty International.
The rights group claims the pattern of attacks "show evidence of violations of international law."
Russia has been engaged in a military campaign in Syria in support of embattled President Bashar al-Assad since September. Moscow says its operation is aimed at defeating "terrorist targets" there, but the United States claims the Russian airstrikes are targeting Syrian opposition forces rather than ISIS, which has taken control of large parts of the country.
The Amnesty report, entitled "Syria: Civilian Objects Were Not Damaged: Russia's Statements in Syria Unmasked," singles out six attacks it says took place in the Syrian cities of Homs, Idlib and Aleppo between September and November this year, which claimed the lives of at least 200 civilians and around a dozen Syrian rebel fighters. The group also claimed Russia covered up damage to a mosque in one air strike, and a field hospital in another.
Doubts over targeting
With an operating base at Hmeymim near Latakia in western Syria, Russia is able to launch as many as 80 sorties per day. And there's some doubt among Western analysts about the accuracy of their targeting.
How the Kremlin means business in Syria Peter Felstead, editor of Jane's Defense Weekly, told CNN in October that "the air campaign has been effective, but in a typically Russian 'sledgehammer' manner.
"Video released by the Russian MoD, in fact, shows no evidence or precision targeting; some munitions, in fact, looked as if they struck open fields."
David Cenciotti, who runs The Aviationist website, said Russia's Su-24 and 25 bombers have made "significant use of unguided fragmentation bombs ... Su-24s were also seen dropping RBK 500 cluster bombs."
These aren't precision weapons, according to the U.S. military.
But Moscow insists that with aerial reconnaissance by drones and satellite images, their targeting is accurate. In one Moscow briefing, Col. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov said: "There's panic and desertion among [the rebels]. Because of this, we will not only continue with our strikes, but increase their intensity."
Amnesty disagrees.
"Some Russian airstrikes appear to have directly attacked civilians or civilian objects by striking residential areas with no evident military target and even medical facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries to civilians. Such attacks may amount to war crimes," said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
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"It is crucial that suspected violations are independently and impartially investigated."
Amnesty says its reporting is based on interviews with eyewitnesses and survivors of attacks. The group says it also examined videos and images purportedly showing the aftermath of attacks, supported by the opinion of "weapons experts." Due to the difficulty in obtaining accurate reporting on the ground, Amnesty explained how it determined which attacks were Russian rather by the other countries carrying out strikes on Syria. Statements from Russia's foreign ministry announcing "terrorist" targets hit, were compared with details from the ground about these attacks from witnesses and local activists.