The Russian top diplomat says the Syrian aviation could not have worked as the attack on the convoy occurred during the hours of darkness when Syrian warplanes do not fly
The humanitarian convoy in Aleppo could not have been hit by Syria’s Air Force as the attack occurred in the dark when Syrian aircrafts do not fly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told the Rossiya 1 TV channel.
“Our military have already made the statements that our aviation did not work there. The Syrian aviation could not work as the attack on the convoy occurred during the hours of darkness,” said Lavrov, who is attending the session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“The Syrian Air Force does not fly at this time, they don’t have such possibilities, and the attack occurred at the moment when the humanitarian cargo was being unloaded in eastern Aleppo,” he explained.
A joint humanitarian convoy of the UN and the Syrian Red Crescent was hit near Aleppo on September 19.
A UN spokesman said 18 out of 31 vehicles were destroyed or damaged but could not confirm this was an airstrike.
The US administration has blamed Russia for the attack on the convoy. The Russian Foreign Ministry has rejected the claims saying neither Russia nor Syria were behind the attack. “Such unfounded and hasty accusations are designed, among other things, to distract attention from a strange ‘error’ made by pilots of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition on September 17 when its planes bombed the Syrian government troops positions near Deir ez-Zor,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.