Attack on Russian embassy in Syria 'act of terror', Moscow says

“We treat the incident as terrorist act, aimed against the Russian embassy. We strongly condemn its perpetrators, organizers and instigators,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich on Tuesday.
 
Russia reaffirms its solidarity with Syrian authorities in their effort to combat the terrorist threat in Syria, he added.
 
Moscow has urged the international community “to give due assessment to the terrorist attack against the Russian diplomatic mission,” Lukashevich said, adding that the country has also called for "an immediate" end to such acts.
 
On Tuesday afternoon, two mortar rounds hit the premises of the Russian embassy in Damascus, inflicting some material damage, but there were no casualties.
 
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Jobar district of Damascus is the place from which “illegal armed groups” fired the shells.
 
The United Nations Security Council has also strongly condemned the mortar shelling, calling it a “terrorist attack”.
 
Syrian authorities responded quickly, promising to increase security and ensure the embassy’s safety.
 
In a similar mortar attack against the Russian embassy in Syria, a shell landed near the embassy, killing a Syrian national and injuring nine security guards in late November 2013.
 
Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence fueled by Takfiri groups has so far claimed the lives of over 222,000 people, according to reports.
 
Over 3.8 million Syrians have left their country since the beginning of the crisis. More than 7.2 million Syrians have also become internally displaced, according to the United Nations.