Secret British probes into Putin’s Syrian ‘war crimes’

ALLEGED attacks on civilians by Russian war planes in Syria are being investigated by MI6 and British police with a view to prosecuting President Vladimir Putin for war crimes.

Scotland Yard detectives have flown to Lebanon to monitor air strikes in neighbouring Syria amid claims that Russian bombers have caused hundreds of casualties by targeting hospitals and schools.

Medical charities and human rights groups have already condemned the bombing of civilians in areas controlled by Syrian rebels who oppose the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Putin’s ally. Now intelligence services are compiling

‘Closely monitoring the situation’

a secret dossier of specific assaults, which could lead to the Russian President facing allegations of crimes against humanity at an international tribunal.

The disclosure comes after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned Moscow last month that strikes on hospitals ‘could amount to war crimes’. Last night, Foreign Office sources confirmed that the UK is ‘closely monitoring the situation’ in Syria.

The MoS understands that British investigators, including detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service’s war crimes unit, are at the British Embassy in Beirut.

According to Amnesty International, Russia is targeting hospitals in areas held by rebel groups in an attempt to terrorise local people into supporting President Assad.

Russia has denied its jets target hospitals, insisting its aircraft only strike ‘terrorist targets’. The Russian Embassy in London was unavailable for comment last night and Scotland Yard would not comment.