Russia said Tuesday there had been no airstrikes over the devastated Syrian city of Aleppo for a week — conflicting with claims from residents of repeated aerial bombardments.
“Over the last seven days, flights of Russian Aerospace Defense Forces and Syrian Air Force over Aleppo were completely ceased,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
“Aircraft do not come close to the city and do not deliver strikes.”
But several residents told CNN that the besieged, rebel-held part of eastern Aleppo came under attack throughout Sunday afternoon and night, effectively bringing an end to the unilateral ceasefire that Syria and Russia announced October 18.
The UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported bombing by regime forces in a rebel-held neighborhood of Aleppo on Sunday and Monday.
In its statement, the Russian Defense Ministry also said that on Monday night “48 women and children exited eastern Aleppo through a humanitarian corridor with the help of officers from the Russian Center for Reconciliation.”
Moscow said the evacuees received food, medical care and accommodations.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to have been trapped for months behind siege lines around opposition-held eastern Aleppo.
Dire warnings dropped on rebel areas
Since declaring a unilateral ceasefire last week that appears now to have collapsed, Russia and the Syrian government urged those trapped to flee.
Aircraft have repeatedly scattered leaflets over the besieged area.
The Manar TV network broadcast images of these leaflets on its website. It’s affiliated with the armed Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which has been fighting actively alongside the Syrian government.
The warning printed on one of these purported leaflets was dire.
“Read and re-read. This is the last hope. Save yourselves. If you don’t evacuate these areas, you will be eliminated. We have left you a safe path to exit. Save yourselves! You are aware that everyone has abandoned you leaving you alone to face your destiny,” the leaflet said.
Another leaflet broadcast by Manar showed the names and faces of seven rebel commanders allegedly killed in the fighting.
UN: Not safe to evacuate
But the United Nations says it is not safe to evacuate civilians out of the checkpoints promoted by Russia and the Syrian government.
In a statement, Stephen O’Brien, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, wrote that the United Nations had engaged in “long and demanding negotiations” about evacuation.
He said the talks included the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Syrian medical nongovernmental organizations.
In the end, the proposal failed.
O’Brien laid the blame on “local authorities in eastern Aleppo, conditions placed by non-state armed groups and the government of Syria’s objection to allowing medical and other relief supplies into the eastern part of the city.”
Due to siege conditions, O’Brien said east Aleppo had not received any humanitarian assistance since early July. He called on all parties to work urgently for a comprehensive ceasefire “to prevent the needless death and injury of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the inevitable destruction of Aleppo.”