MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The military operation aimed at liberation of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, occupied by the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) militant group, will put the residents of the city into the disastrous conditions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.
On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the military operation to retake Mosul from the Daesh militants.
"The question should be posed from other point of view: maybe the information campaign in regard to Russia, which has become more intense in the recent weeks, maybe it has preceded the developments that are expected to do in regard to Mosul? Because a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe is approaching," Zakharova told the Rossiya 1 channel.
She added that nobody had calculated the risks of the operation as well as had solved such issues as preparation of shelters, food and health for refugees that would flee the city.
Mosul, the second biggest Iraqi city, is the main stronghold of Daesh in Iraq. The city was seized by Daesh, a jihadist group outlawed in Russia, in 2014 along with a number of other northern and western Iraqi cities and towns.
