The Russian Defense Ministry described the reports by Western media about its planes bombing al-Shafah village in the countryside of Deir Ezzor as “false allegations.”

“Russian Aerospace Forces planes have not been used to attack al-Shafah in Deir Ezzor province,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement ppublished on Monday on its website, reiterating that Russia’s Aerospace Forces attack only international terrorist groups and only outside populated areas.

“All information about such facilities is checked and verified on-line via various channels on the ground and by drones. Claims by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that Russian planes have raided al-Shafah are another in a series of fake claims,” the Ministry added.

On Sunday, a number of Western media outlets claimed that civilian casualties were caused by Russian shelling of residential buildings in the village of al-Shafah in the countryside of Deir Ezzor.