Russia has accused British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson of “Russophobic hysteria” after he attacked the Kremlin for carrying out "war crimes" in Syria.
Speaking in the British parliament on Tuesday, Johnson called for protests outside the Russian embassy in London over the country's ongoing airstrikes in the besieged city of Aleppo.
“Attacking a hospital amounts to a war crime,” he said. “It is time for these incidents be properly and fully investigated with a view to assembling the necessary evidence to ensure that justice is done.”
He later warned that Russia risked becoming a “pariah nation” if it continued "down its current path."
"I'm personally very attracted to the idea of getting these people to come before the International Criminal Court," he said.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said that Johnson's statement was “in line with the hysteric Russophobia regularly spouted by members of the British establishment."
Konashenkov also continued to deny that the Russian Air Force had hit humanitarian targets in Syria.
Russia’s policy in the country has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks, with some of the few remaining hospitals in the besieged city of Aleppo coming under fire.
The Kremlin also continues to face allegations that Russian forces bombed a UN aid convoy in the area in September.
"There were no Russian aircraft in the area of the humanitarian convoy in Aleppo; this is a fact,” Konashenkov said. The spokesperson said that if Johnson had proof of Russian involvement, he should release it into the public domain.
“Any evidence isn’t worth a penny unless we have open access to it,” he said.
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