On Wednesday, Diab told the Russian Rossiya 24 TV channel about the details of the White Helmets' footage. The boy said that he was in a basement in Duma with his mother when someone shouted to go to the hospital. When they came, somebody grabbed him, poured water on him and put him on a bed with other people in order to shoot a video. Diab's father told the news channel that his son received sweets and rice for his participation in the filming process. The man added that there was no chemical attack in the city.
"If anyone should become the main speaker of these days, the main figure in the UN Security Council, then I think this very boy, Hasan Diab, and his parents should tell the Security Council about the White Helmets and how it prepares its fake [footage]," Zakharova said at a briefing.
Earlier this month, a number of media outlets and Western countries accused Damascus of using chemical weapons in Douma, located in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, on April 7. The Syrian government and Russia have refuted the allegations, saying that the attack in Douma was staged by militants and the White Helmets to influence public opinion and justify possible intervention.