Russia's Defense Ministry said on December 26 that its troops had found mass graves in the Syrian city of Aleppo with bodies showing signs of torture and mutilation.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that dozens of bodies have been uncovered, some of them bearing gunshot wounds.
Human rights observers and the media have recorded many examples of massacres and organized torture carried out by the government, opposition, and the extremist Islamic State group in Syria.
The Russian Air Force helped the Syrian army recapture Aleppo on December 22, months after a major offensive to retake the city was launched in September.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on December 25 that at least 63 Syrian soldiers and militiamen have been killed by booby traps in Aleppo.
Russia had accused the rebels of laying multiple booby traps and mines across the city.
