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Russian embassy in Syria's Twitter account suspended after posting White Helmets 'fake news'
Russian embassy in Syria's Twitter account suspended after posting White Helmets 'fake news'
The Russian embassy in Syria’s account on Twitter has been suspended by the social media company after it posted claims “White Helmet” civil defence rescuers were faking images of bombings.
The embassy claimed that news of an air strike on a vegetable market in the Maarat al-Numan neighbourhood of rebel-held Idlib, which left at least 38 civilians dead and 100 wounded, was fabricated and that the market was still intact.
“Twitter suspends accounts that violate Twitter rules,” the default notice on the page of @RusEmbSyria reads without elaborating.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow has yet to offer an official statement, however the Russian embassy in South Africa called Twitter “thought police” for banning the account.
The embassy claimed the account was suspended after posting “factual criticism of the White Helmets, quoting the Russian military.”
Earlier, the defence ministry posted on its Twitter page a video it claimed proved the market in Maarat al-Numan was "undamaged and fully operational".
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, director of Doctors Under Fire organisation, who has been in Idlib for the last week training doctors, said Russian claims there had been no attack on Maarat al-Numan were “lies”.
“We were at a hospital receiving patients from that attack. Casualties were being brought from there, many of whom very badly injured children,” he told the Telegraph. “There is no doubt that this bombing happened and that it claimed many lives.”
The White Helmets, officially known as the Syria Civil Defence, is a humanitarian organisation made up of 3,400 volunteers, operating in opposition-held areas. It is credited with saving the lives of thousands and has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
The organisation, which receives charitable funding from the US, the UK, and other western governments, has been the target of a considerable disinformation campaign by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian-sponsored media organisations such as RT.
Conspiracy theorists claim the White Helmets’ rescues are staged and accuse them of working with jihadist groups operating in rebel areas; however, the group has a policy of neutrality.
“White Helmets is a pseudo humanitarian organisation created by Western intelligence agencies in Syria: abetting terrorists, staging chemical attacks, killing civilians, including children, organ trafficking,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted on Monday. The tweet was shared by RT.
Russia is currently supporting the Syrian government’s offensive on Idlib, the rebels’ last-remaining stronghold in the northwest. Some three million people - many seeking refuge from other areas of the country - are living largely under the control of jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Violence has escalated in recent weeks, as the pro-regime forces struggle to make ground.
Mark Lowcock, the UN humanitarian chief, gave one of his strongest speeches to the Security Council on Tuesday.
He told them to take action to end the "bloody onslaught" in Idlib, warning that continued violence could create the worst humanitarian disaster of the 21st century.
An exasperated Mr Lowcock told council members they have ignored previous pleas to stop the bombing and shelling in Idlib province by Syrian and Russian warplanes and "done nothing for 90 days as the carnage continues in front of your eyes."
"Are you again going to shrug your shoulders ... or are you going to listen to the children of Idlib, and do something about it?" he asked.
On July 26, the UN human rights office reported that at least 450 civilians have been killed since late April, including more than a hundred in the previous two weeks.
"There is no refuge for the people of Idlib," Mr Lowcock stressed. "Hundreds of them have been killed, hundreds more injured, 440,000 of them displaced, but there is nowhere else for them to go."
Susannah Sirkin, policy director at Physicians for Human Rights, told the council that since Syria launched its offensive the organisation had received reports of 46 attacks on health care facilities. So far, she said, it has verified 16 of them.
Ms Sirkin said many health facilities in Idlib have been forced out of service and accused Syria and Russia of continuing to target them.
