The Western press is abuzz with allegations that Russian airstrikes in Syria are being launched against targets other than the Islamic State militants; however, these are attempts at misinformation, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Friday.
"For a whole week we have seen the Reuters news agency pushing someone's conclusion that 80% of the Russian airstrikes were allegedly not 'ISIL-targeted'. This misinforming report was commented on promptly, the day it emerged," he said.
On Thursday, Will Stevens, spokesperson for the US Embassy in Moscow, told Russian media that 80% of Russian airstrikes in Syria were not targeted against the Islamic State facilities.
"We have questions regarding his words that the Russian air units hit the [Syrian] opposition, including the moderates", General Konashenkov said.
"Should we believe that militants from the Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Jaish al-Fatah, who equally enjoy cutting the throats of their prisoners, are also 'opposition', albeit a bit less moderate? We are waiting for Mr. Stevens' reply," he went on to say.
Konashenkov added that he could not understand why a US diplomat in Moscow makes statements on behalf of the State Department based on fake reports.
