The Image of Five-Year-Old Omran Forced Russia to Deny: We Do Not Target Residential Areas

Following the widespread publication of an image of a five-year-old boy in Aleppo, Syria, who was injured and shocked by airstrikes, Russia emphasized that it had no role in this incident and that its warplanes never target residential areas. The image of Omran, with a bloodied face and covered in dust, shocked the world and drew attention back to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, particularly in Aleppo. Omran survived an airstrike that initially was attributed to the Syrian army by opponents of Bashar al-Assad, but later it was suggested that Russian bombers may have been involved. However, Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, denied this on Friday, August 19, stating that the neighborhood where Omran was located is outside the range of Russian airstrikes, as it is a junction for two humanitarian aid routes established by Moscow for the residents of Aleppo. According to Agence France-Presse, Mr. Konashenkov stated that this attack could have been carried out by rebels in Aleppo, who targeted the humanitarian aid routes with mortars to discredit Russia. He even suggested that perhaps no airstrike occurred at all, and that the building where Omran was located might have been destroyed due to a gas cylinder explosion, as gas cylinders are widely used by 'terrorists' in that area. On Thursday, Russia announced that for the third consecutive day, Russian bombers had flown from Iran to conduct airstrikes in the Deir ez-Zor province of Syria. In this context, the UN warned of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in Aleppo amid intense fighting in Aleppo and Idlib, with 'over 180 civilians killed in two days.'