Moscow Denies Deadly Strikes on Syrian Village

Russia's Defense Ministry on Monday denied a report that alleged Moscow's air strikes had killed 34 civilians in the Syrian village of Al-Shafah.

It called the report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights "another falsehood," adding the Russian military targets "only unpopulated areas and international terrorist groups."

"Russian army planes did not hit Al-Shafah in the Deir Ezzor province," it said in a statement.

On Sunday, the Britain-based monitor accused Moscow of killing 34 civilians, among them 15 children, in an air strike on the village Al-Shafah which lies on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.

The Observatory relies on a network of sources inside Syria, and says it determined whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used. 

Russia is a close ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and in September 2015 began a military intervention in support of his government that has gradually helped Damascus regain territory. 

More than 340,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.