"Supported by Russian Aerospace Forces, the Syrian armyhas liberated hundreds of settlements from Daesh and restored control of the legitimate government of almost all territory of the country. Meanwhile, the international [US-led] coalition was focused on impeding [activities of] Syrian government troops including direct attacks on its positions in Deir ez-Zor," he Russian Defense Ministry has stated.
According to the Russian military, "in three years of its presence in Syria, the coalition only recently achieved its first ‘result’ in the fight against Daesh by destroying Raqqa along with the civilians."
The Russian ministry has further accused the US-led coalition of allowing the core Daesh terrorists to leave Raqqa, as confirmed by the BBC broadcaster, and join other jihadists near Deir ez-Zor.
"That is why, if there is any positive role of the international coalition in defeating Daesh in Syria, it is only that it did not manage to destroy other Syrian cities with its carpet bombing, like it did with Raqqa," the statement read.
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The credit for the victory against Daesh terrorist group belongs to the Syrian government and its troops, in the first place, the Defense Ministry said, commenting on a statement of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
"It is at least strange to hear from the French foreign minister that Russia assigns victories against Daesh to itself."
The Russian Defense Ministry's statement follows a remark by a representative of the Combined Joint Task Force — Operation Inherent Resolve's (CJTF-OIR) press service, who told Sputnik that the Pentagon disagrees with the Russian military's assessment of US warplanes' actions in the Euphrates Valley as attempts to prevent the destruction of terrorists.
The statement referred to the announcement made by Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, who reported that US fighter jets prevented Russian bombers from carrying out a combat mission to destroy the Daesh stronghold in Syrian airspace over the western bank of the Euphrates River on November 23.
READ MORE: Russian MoD Reports Incident With US F-22 Fighter Over Syria's Euphates River
The US-led coalition of more than 70 members has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh in Syria since 2014, with these actions not being authorized either by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.
