Russian embassy in Damascus 'shelled twice'

By Hakan Ceyhan Aydogan

MOSCOW

The Russian embassy in Damascus was shelled twice on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said the first shell hit the inner yard of the embassy complex at 1 p.m. local time (1000GMT), while the second one landed near the embassy building at 1.19 p.m. local time (1019GMT).

The statement said the shell that landed in the inner yard of the embassy did not explode.

Russian Foreign Ministry called the incident a "provocation of extremists that do not want peace in Syria".

This is not the first time the embassy has been shelled. On Oct. 28, two mortars shells had also hit the embassy compound.