British FM calls for Aleppo protests at Russian embassy

By Busra Akin Dincer

LONDON (AA) – British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Tuesday called for Russia to be investigated for war crimes over its role in Syria and for protests to take place outside Moscow’s embassy.

Johnson spoke in parliament for the first time as the U.K.’s foreign minister during an emergency debate on Syria in the House of Commons.

He referred to Aleppo as the “the biggest and potentially the deadliest siege” since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war.

“Every hospital in eastern Aleppo is believed to have been bombed, some of them more than once, and several have been put out of action,” he said and added: “The House will know that intentionally attacking a hospital amounts to a war crime.”

The U.K. foreign minister’s words came the same day as a Syrian civil defense official told Anadolu Agency at least 43 civilians had been killed in a Russian air strike on besieged rebel-held districts of Aleppo.

Johnson also claimed that “all the available evidence” of an aerial attack of a UN convoy in Syria “points to Russian responsibility for the atrocity".

He said it was time for all these incidents “to be fully and properly investigated”.

“I’m personally very attracted to the idea of getting these people to come before the International Criminal Court,” he continued and added if Russia continued on its current path it risked “becoming a pariah nation”.

Johnson also urged human rights groups to stand against Russia’s policy: "I'd certainly like to see demonstrations outside the Russian embassy,” he told lawmakers.