Just now, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Washington is trying to "lie to the world again" about the situation in Syria.

Author: Wang Dehua

Moscow on Saturday strongly condemned the U.S. State Department's call for a chemical weapons attack in Syria's Idlib province, saying the allegations were completely unsubstantiated and not even confirmed by Western-backed groups.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Washington's attempt to "tell the world one more lie" about the situation in Syria was "not even surprising anymore," while it denied any such attacks had taken place in Idlib.

The U.S. State Department reported an alleged attack for the first time on Tuesday. The U.S. saw some "signs" of a possible attack, but did not provide any details about the incident, providing only the date of the attack, the report said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said even Western-backed groups, such as the United Kingdom-based Syrian Human Rights Watch and the White Helmets Unit, did not support Washington's claims this time. The White Helmets, which describe themselves as civil defense groups, operate only in areas controlled by militants and are accused of being linked to extremists.

Neither the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights nor the White Helmets force have issued any relevant reports, though they are often the first to report chemical attacks in militant-held areas, which Western officials have immediately blamed on the Syrian government.

Washington had to admit that it had "no clear conclusions" about the alleged incident, but did not make concessions on it. State Department spokesman Morgan told reporters Thursday that the U.S. managed to obtain the report from "numerous sources, including interviews with people at the scene of the attack."

The claims were also ridiculed by the Russian Defense Ministry, which said the only "witnesses" and "sources" that the United States was able to reach the scene were terrorists from Ashsham. Its predecessor was al-Qaida's arm, the Al-Nusrah Front. The group defeated all other militant groups in the region as early as February and has enjoyed "full control" over the area since then.

The Russian military added that the Syrian army unilaterally ceased fire the day before the attack and did not respond to the militants' provocations after that, so "the 'attack' in the Idlib de-escalation zone on May 19 could not have occurred at all." It argues that the story appears to be "a political cover for terrorists desperately trying to destabilize the situation in Idlib ... And provoke a humanitarian catastrophe there. ”

On Wednesday, Nusra Front terrorists launched a massive offensive, with hundreds of militants backed by tanks and armored personnel carriers but repulsed by the Syrian army. Meanwhile, Russian air bases have recently been hit by rockets from Idlib, sometimes using drones carrying explosives to attack the bases. They were all intercepted by air defenses.