Russia claims Syria rebels 'staging chemical attack'

Russia claimed Tuesday that Syrian rebels had begun working on film footage that would be presented to the world as the aftermath of an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian army. During the seven-year Syrian conflict, the West has accused Damascus on a number of occcasions of using chemical weapons against the civilian population.
The regime of Bashar al-Assad and its top backer Moscow have consistently denied those claims, pointing the finger at rebels instead. The Russian defence ministry, citing Idlib residents, said film crews from several Middle Eastern TV channels - as well as "a regional branch of a leading US news channel" - had arrived for the shoot in the city of Jisr al-Shughur in Idlib.
"By the end of the day", all the footage should be handed over to the TV channels which would release it through social media, the defence ministry claimed. According to the "scenario," White Helmets activists will be "helping residents of Jisr ash-Shugur" after the alleged use of barrel bombs by the Syrian army, it said.