Russia denies its planes bombed rebel-held Syrian city

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on the phone in the early hours on Tuesday, and the Russian president expressed a "serious concern" about what the martial law in Ukraine might entail. The Kremlin warned Tuesday that Ukraine’s declaration of martial law over Russia’s seizure of three Ukrainian ships might trigger a flare-up in hostilities in eastern Ukraine, while Kiev blamed Russia for parading captured Ukrainian seamen on television. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Ministry of Defence denied on Monday its planes carried out air strikes on the rebel-held Syrian city of Maarat al-Numan that hit a popular market and residential neighborhoods.

The raids killed at least 20 people in the densely-populated city in the south of Idlib province earlier on Monday and were believed to have been carried out by either Syrian or Russian jets, rescuers and residents said.

“Russia’s Air Force did not carry out any missions in the given region of the Syrian Arab Republic,” the ministry said in a statement.

Reporting by Andrew Osborn; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Polina Ivanova