Russia Has Serious Humanitarian Concerns Over Coalition's Mosul Operation

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that Moscow is concerned with the ongoing operation to liberate Mosul due to humanitarian reasons.

SOCHI (Sputnik) – Russia will not throw a tantrum over the international US-led coalition’s operation in the Iraqi city of Mosul, but it does have serious humanitarian concerns, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Tuesday.

"From our side, we do not intend to throw humanitarian tantrums over the participation of the Americans and other members of the anti-ISIL [Islamic State] coalition in the ongoing operation to liberate Mosul, but there is also a reason for humanitarian concern there," Bogdanov said.

The Russian General Staff said Tuesday that more than 60 civilians, including children, had been killed and 200 wounded in the US-led coalition’s attacks on residential districts of Mosul in the past three days.

On October 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of a military operation to recapture Mosul from Daesh, a jihadist group outlawed in Russia, with the help of airstrikes by the US-led international coalition. According to local media, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the operation.