Russia uses video game image in claim Aleppo rebels have 'chemical ammo'

The Russian embassy in the UK has been ridiculed after it used a screenshot of a computer game to illustrate its claim that Nusra Front militants had received truckloads of "chemical ammo".

In a Twitter message on Thursday, the Russian embassy account posted "Extremists near Aleppo received several truckloads of chemical ammo", and posted an image of three trucks, which appears to originate from "Command & Conquer Generals".

The image is the first option presented when searching in Google images for "bomb truck".

The image includes the words "for illustrative purposes only", but its use led to widespread ridicule by Twitter users.

Taking the embassy's lead, users posted pictures including a Minecraft building as a "secret hideout" for Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and a screenshot of the 1980s arcade game "Green Beret" as proof that Russia's embassy had been "infiltrated".

Russia has helped the Syrian government conduct a huge air campaign against "terrorists" in Aleppo, as a purported February ceasefire never took hold, with hundreds of people being killed in fierce fighting and thousands fleeing their homes.

The Russian embassy did not respond to Middle East Eye requests for comment on its use of a video game screenshot, but did refer to a Ministry of Defence post on Facebook which stated on 11 May that "several trucks with improvised munitions fitted with chemical warfare agents based on chlorine have arrived in northern territories of Aleppo, which had been controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists, from the ‎Idlib‬ province".