FILE PHOTO: Russia's Konstantin Kosachev addresses the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe during a debate on the consequences of war between Georgia and Russia in Strasbourg, France September 30, 2008. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia’s upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, said on Sunday that reports of a gas attack in Syria were bogus and convenient news for Washington.

“This is yet another bogus claim by ‘fakemakers’ and there is a banally obvious reason for it: to undermine the exit of Jaish al-Islam rebels from Douma and impede the offensive by Syrian government forces,” Kosachev wrote on his social media page.