Russia condemns 'war crimes' in Yemen while bombarding Syria

Russia is working towards confronting violations in Yemen as the UN accuses it of war crimes.
2 min read
17 February, 2016
Civilians have been caught between rebel fighting and Saudi-led coalition airstrikes [Yemen]
Russia is making extensive movements to confront what it calls war crimes in Yemen, local sources told The New Arab.

The UN member condemned the destruction of historical and cultural artefacts in the war-torn country during a closed Security Council session with other nations on Wednesday.

The session was held to discuss the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

New Zealand, strongly backed by Venezuela and Spain, called for a stronger approach to be taken against those who commit war crimes and violations against humanity, in the war-stricken country.

Russia has been criticised in recent days for its continuous bombardment of Syria- an act that could be considered a war crime, according to the UN.

Moscow has been blamed for bombing five hospitals and three schools in rebel-held areas on Monday, causing dozens of deaths.

One of the targets included a Medicines Sans Frontiers run hospital in Idlib province, although the group did not assign blame to any party.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Russian planes were likely to blame due to flight patterns and types of aircraft used in the bombing in opposition-held Idlib province.

On Tuesday, Moscow blamed Washington for the attack but US planes are not known to operate in the area.

Russia has carried out intensive bombing raids on rebel-held territories since Moscow intervened in the Syria war in September.

The UN Security Council is expected to adopt the Yemen proposals in a UN resolution or official statement.