Russian President Vladimir Putin has reacted to the U.S. airstrikes on Syria earlier and called the move as "an act of aggression". Putin said the action has dealt a serious blow to Russian-US relations that prior to the airstrikes are already in "poor state."
Putin also said that the U.S. airstrikes on Syria were just an attempt to draw public attention away from the numerous civilian casualties from U.S.-led coalition strikes in Iraq. Putin also claimed that the Syrian Army has no chemical weapons.
Putin's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov also strongly condemned the U.S. strike and said it violates international law.
Lavrov was quick to point, however, no Russian servicemen at the air base have been hurt by the U.S. cruise missiles.
AP has reported that Russian state TV aired the footage showing the extent of the damage at the Syrian airbase caused by the U.S. strike.
Syrian state TV is also continuously showing footage of the U.S. missile strike on its air base. The amateur video taken only from a mobile phone camera shows shaky footage recorded hours after about 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles hit the base in Homs province. It shows the extensive damage to the base caused by the strike. A different sequence also shows a short clip of a fire.
The Syrian government has confirmed the death of at least six people, while several others have been wounded from the strike. Activists said the air base, hangars, fuel depot, and aircraft were seriously damaged. A fire was also reported that went on for over an hour.
In his address to the nation shortly after the U.S. military launched the airstrikes against Syria, President Donald Trump defended his decision as vital to the national security interest of the U.S. to protect and stop the spread of the use of deadly chemical weapons. Trump also called the chemical weapons attack as horrible and the deaths of many innocent people including beautiful babies were brutal and barbaric.
