Russia's Strong Response to British Foreign Secretary's War Crime Allegation

In response to allegations of committing war crimes by Russia in Syria, a senior Russian official on Wednesday, October 13, accused the British Foreign Secretary of 'hysteria' and 'fueling anti-Russian sentiment.' Boris Johnson, the controversial British Foreign Secretary known for his bluntness, accused Vladimir Putin's government of 'war crimes' in a speech reacting to events in Aleppo and Russian airstrikes supporting Bashar al-Assad's regime. Shortly after, he urged the public to gather outside the Russian embassy in London to voice their protests against the events in Aleppo. In reaction to this high-level stance from the British government, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defense described Johnson's remarks as 'much ado about nothing.' According to Igor Konashenkov, the spokesperson for this Russian ministry, Russia has long 'not taken seriously' the 'hysteria' and 'fueling of anti-Russian sentiment' by some individuals in the British government. Konashenkov also reiterated that the Russian air force is not responsible for the bombing of a UN aid convoy that occurred last month. According to this Russian official, the evidence and documents that Britain claims to have regarding this bombing 'are worth nothing.' However, this was not the only response from Russia to the British Foreign Secretary. Before Igor Konashenkov, Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, also stated that Moscow is 'really ashamed' of Johnson's remarks. Russia, alongside the Islamic Republic, is the largest supporter of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and has effectively prevented the fall of this regime and the victory of the opposition against Assad over the past five years. Meanwhile, fighting in Aleppo and its surroundings has escalated in the past month or two, accompanied by heavy bombardment from the Russian air force, while whispers from Western countries have emerged regarding the commission of 'war crimes' by Russian and Syrian forces. In this context, on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin also canceled his official trip to Paris to meet with Francois Hollande, announcing that he was taking this action in protest against the dispute over Moscow's role in Syria. The war crime accusation was made a day earlier, on Monday, by Hollande, the President of France, against Syrian forces, noting that these actions are carried out with Russian support. The fire of the civil war has been raging in Syria for more than five years, and according to various available statistics, more than 300,000 have been killed and millions displaced. In this regard, after vetoing the French plan regarding Syria, the Russian draft also failed in the Security Council. A Russian official criticized the US for suspending Syrian talks. The President of Russia canceled his trip to France. Russia resumed 'bombing the eastern part of Aleppo' after a few days of pause.