Russia launched a renewed offensive across Syria yesterday hours after Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict with Donald Trump amid questions about how the incoming US president will deal with the Russian leader.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, said the air strikes had targeted Isis and Syrian jihadis, their ammunition depots and training camps, in the provinces of Idlib and Homs. Opposition activists said the besieged northern city of Aleppo was also subject to intense bombardment for the first time in weeks, though the Kremlin denied it was hitting the area.
The Trump camp did not say whether the two men discussed Syria in their Monday evening telephone call but the Kremlin said they agreed on the need for joint efforts to fight terrorism and discussed the possibility of a settlement to the five-year Syrian conflict.
Throughout the campaign, Mr Trump unnerved the foreign policy establishment on both sides of the Atlantic by praising Mr Putin as a strong leader and hailing his role in the Syrian civil war as a campaign against extremists.
Under President Barack Obama, Russia’s backing of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its involvement in the bombardment of Aleppo have severely strained Moscow’s relations with the US and its European allies.
Western governments have condemned many of Mr Putin’s actions, going so far as accusing Russia of being complicit in war crimes for bombing civilians and hospitals in Aleppo after the collapse of a brief ceasefire brokered by Washington and Moscow. They have also called for the ousting of Mr Assad, who Mr Putin has backed both diplomatically and militarily. Mr Trump has suggested he is more interested in targeting Isis than the removal of Mr Assad, which could give Syria and Russia more rein to attack the rebels.
Russia, which intervened in the conflict a year ago, eventually paused its bombardment of Aleppo but the Syrian regime has been warning for days of a new offensive on the city, which is divided between rebels and government forces and is the critical battleground in the war.
Analysts have been concerned that Damascus and Moscow would use the political transition in the US to mount an all-out offensive to defeat the rebels.
Mr Shoigu said the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s aircraft carrier, had been used in the campaign – its first combat mission.
“There were 30 air strikes and three people have died so far,” said Hisham Skaff of the Fastaqem Kama Umirt rebel brigade in Aleppo. “This is very scary.”
Moscow appeared to warn other outside forces against intervening to halt the offensive, with Mr Shoigu highlighting Russia’s air defence capabilities covering an area of the Mediterranean.
In the past 24 hours air strikes have hit three hospitals in rebel-held villages in Aleppo province, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
