Russian bombers have “directly attacked” and killed at least 200 civilians in Syria and its campaign of air strikes could amount to war crimes, campaigners say.

In a major new report on Russia’s intervention in Syria, Amnesty International accused Vladimir Putin’s government of knowingly targeting residential areas in “indiscriminate attacks”, before covering up the evidence and effectively lying to the international community.

The campaign group’s researchers analysed 25 suspected Russian air raids since the start of Moscow’s campaign in Syria, with targets including homes, medical facilities and a mosque.

The 28-page report highlighted the fact that Russia has flatly denied any civilian casualties or even damage to civilian property during its hundreds of air strikes on Syrian “terrorists”.

Amnesty said on the contrary that across the suspected Russian bombings it had analysed, 16 civilians had been killed for every rebel fighter successfully targeted.

“In some attacks, the Russian armed forces appear to have directly attacked civilians or civilian objects by striking residential areas with no evident military objective and even medical facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries to civilians,” the report said.

“In others, they seem to have attacked military objectives and civilian objects without distinction, or caused disproportionate harm to civilians when striking military targets. Such attacks may constitute war crimes.”

'Terrible waves of indiscriminate attacks'

Speaking to the Independent upon the release of its report, Amnesty said its research suggested Russia’s role in Syria had gone from “callous to catastrophic”.

Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK’s Syria campaign manager, said: “For years Moscow has shielded the Assad government and blocked efforts to try to reduce the suffering of the Syrian people, now Russia’s air forces are themselves killing Syrian civilians by the hundred.

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“We’ve seen with earlier conflicts in Chechnya and Afghanistan, that Russian forces have a track record of unleashing terrible waves of indiscriminate attacks in residential areas. This is what’s happening in Syria right now.”

Among the worst attacks detailed in the report was a bombing raid on a busy market in Ariha, Idlib province, which killed 49 people. Eye witness accounts and the Russian military’s own briefings provide strong evidence to suggest Russia was responsible.

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria Â© TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps Â© TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

Local activist Mohammed Qurabi al-Ghazal told Amnesty he was nearby when the market was hit, and that while armed group Jaysh al-Fateh controls areas around Ariha it has no presence inside the town.

“I have seen horrific sights since the beginning of the war, but this was unlike anything before,” he said. “There were bodies everywhere, decapitated and mutilated. Forty were lined up, and next to the bodies was a woman sitting and crying.

“I asked her ‘What is wrong?’, and she said: ‘My husband and three children were killed. I am alone at home now. I have no one.’ Her children were literally in bags. To this day, I cannot get over it."

Amnesty called on Russia to “end indiscriminate and proportionate attacks” and comply with international law. It said it had put its findings to the Russian authorities, but received no “substantive response”.

And while it only analysed incidents up until the end of November, reports of Russian bombing raids targeting residential areas continue to emerge.

Yesterday, the Turkish Prime Minister condemned a suspected Russian attack that killed scores of people in the city of Idlib on Sunday.