Ready for Aleppo pause
Russia said it was ready to halt fire for 48-hour periods in Aleppo from next week, following UN calls to extend humanitarian pauses to deliver aid.
"Russia's defence ministry is ready to support the proposal by UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura regarding the introduction of weekly 48-hour 'humanitarian pauses' (in Aleppo)," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
"We are ready to implement the first 48-hour 'humanitarian pause' to deliver humanitarian aid to Aleppo residents as a 'pilot project' already next week in order to ensure safe cargo deliveries to the city's civilians."
"Specific dates and times will be determined after information regarding the readiness of humanitarian convoys is received from the UN, as well as confirmation of safety guarantees from American partners," he said.
The defence ministry also issued an official denial that it carried out a strike on eastern Aleppo on Wednesday evening when the images of five-year-old Omran were taken.
"The Russian planes operating in Syria never work on targets that are inside settled areas," Konashenkov said in a statement yesterday.
The photographer who shot the video for Aleppo Media Centre, a network of activists, told AFP he took the images after an air strike on Wednesday night hit the Qaterji neighbourhood in eastern Aleppo.
Konashenkov said Qaterji was particularly out of bounds for Russian strikes because it adjoins two of the humanitarian corridors Moscow has opened for residents to flee.
He branded Western media reports on Omran as a "cynical exploitation" of the tragic situation in eastern Aleppo and "cliched anti-Russian propaganda".
He suggested the attack could have been carried out by rebels in Aleppo using homemade rockets to target roads close to the humanitarian corridors to undermine Russia's efforts.
Meanwhile, 13 sick children were among 18 people evacuated by aid workers from the besieged Syrian town of Madaya yesterday, a doctor that was treating them told AFP.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent confirmed in a tweet that it was evacuating "36 humanitarian cases" from Madaya and two government-held towns, Kafraya and Fuaa, in northwestern Idlib province.
Syrian regime warplanes bombarded the northeastern city of Hasakeh for the second day yesterday, targeting positions held by Kurdish forces, a monitor and a journalist in the city said.
The journalist said eight air strikes could be heard throughout the day yesterday, mostly focused in the city's southwestern neighbourhoods.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights -- which monitors the conflict and determines what planes carry out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved -- said the strikes were conducted by regime jets.
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