The United States on Sunday made its strongest accusation to date of Moscow's complicity in civilian deaths in Syria, saying Russian aircraft flew bombing missions over the besieged eastern Ghouta region in defiance of a United Nations cease-fire.
The White House said Russian military aircraft took off from the Hemeimeem Air Base in Syria and carried out at least 20 daily bombing missions in Damascus and eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus, between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28.
It did not say whether the jets dropped ordnance, which could be harder to determine than simply tracking the flight paths of Russian aircraft on U.S. radar. Nonetheless, the U.S. directly accused Russia of killing civilians.
"Russia has gone on to ignore [the U.N. cease-fire's] terms and to kill innocent civilians under the false auspices of counterterrorism operations," the White House said in a statement.
Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed on Sunday to continue the offensive in eastern Ghouta, one of the deadliest in the long civil war in Syria. A local insurgent group called it a "scorched earth" campaign.
With the war entering its eighth year this month, capturing eastern Ghouta would be a major victory for Assad, who has steadily regained control of rebel areas with Russian and Iranian support.
Government shelling and airstrikes have killed 659 people in eastern Ghouta since Feb. 18, while rebel shelling of Damascus has killed 27, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that Syrian government airstrikes on eastern Ghouta and shelling from the rebel-held zone into Damascus probably constitute war crimes.
The White House called on pro-Assad forces to "immediately cease targeting medical infrastructure and civilians."
In a separate statement later on Sunday, the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi "discussed Russia and Iran's irresponsible support of the Assad regime's brutal attacks against innocent civilians. President Trump and President el-Sissi agreed to work together on ending the humanitarian crisis in Syria and achieving Arab unity and security in the region."
Russia and the Syrian regime have accused rebels of preventing civilians from leaving eastern Ghouta during daily cease-fires. Rebels have consistently denied the accusation and say people will not leave because they fear the government.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced since the Syrian civil war began in March 2011.
