Russian Defense Ministry Owns Syria Strikes Footage Putin Showed to Stone

Vladimir Putin showed to Oliver Stone the footage of anti-Daesh airstrikes that belongs to the Russian Defense ministry, the Kremlin spokesman said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Footage of Russian airstrikes in Syria that President Vladimir Putin showed to filmmaker Oliver Stone in his documentary belongs to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

"I can confirm these are the Defense Ministry's materials, this is part of their presidential briefing. The defense minister presented it to the president and some part was demonstrated by the president to Oliver Stone," Peskov told reporters.

He noted that circulated claims purporting that the footage may have been repurposed "are incorrect and inappropriate."

When asked about the smartphone that Putin showed the record on, Peskov said that the phone belonged to a member of the presidential staff, as Putin has repeatedly stated that he did not use smartphones.

On June 12-15, Stone’s four-part documentary "The Putin Interviews" was released on Showtime. In one of the episodes, Putin demonstrates Stone footage of Russian airstrikes in Syria. The Meduza media outlet claimed that the footage was identical to that of the US airstrikes in Afghanistan in 2013.