MOSCOW — Russia said Friday that the U.S. and its allies have relied on fabricated evidence to accuse the Syrian government of launching chemical attacks against civilians.
Russia’s foreign and defense ministries also charged the international chemical weapons watchdog with failing to objectively investigate the alleged chemical attacks and with being subject to political control.
Maj. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the Russian military’s radiation, chemical and biological protection unit, said investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had failed to visit the sites of alleged use of sarin and chlorine, and trusted evidence produced by activists, which he described as rigged. Syria has rejected the accusations of chemical attacks.
“The U.S., Britain, France and their allies have misled international community ... relying on fabrications to accuse Syria of violating the chemical weapons ban with Russian assistance,” Kirillov said at a briefing.
Kirillov alleged that the White Helmets first responders working in rebel-controlled areas had doctored samples and used explosive devices to make craters that looked like those left by bombs. In the images presented by activists, they worked at the site of the alleged use of sarin without protective gear, which would have been impossible if the nerve agent had indeed been used there, he added.
Kirillov scoffed at the images of massive gas canisters activists said were dropped by government helicopters in the purported chemical attack on the town of Douma just outside Damascus on April 7. “Surprisingly, the 100-kilogram canisters left tableware and furniture undamaged, and even a bed on which the canister fell was intact, signaling that the canister was dragged into the room, as indicated by signs left on the floor,” he said. (AP)