Why is Russia bombing Aleppo and which side is winning the battle for the Syrian city?
An off-duty cop has assassinated Russia’s ambassador to Turkey in protest at Putin’s military campaign in Syria
RUSSIA'S ambassador to Turkey has been shot dead by an off-duty cop in protest at President Vladimir Putin’s brutal military campaign in neighbouring Syria.
The country stepped up bombing campaigns over beleaguered Aleppo in a civil war which has been raging for almost six years and claimed thousands of lives, with little sign of resolution.
But why has Russia intervened in Syria? And what does it mean for the conflict?
Who is Andrei Karlov?
Andrei Karlov was Russia’s ambassador to Turkey.
The 62-year-old was shot dead at an art gallery by gunman Mevlüt Mert Altintas who shouted: "We die in Aleppo, you die here.”
Altintas, 22, fired at least eight times as Mr Karlov gave a speech in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Speaking in Turkish and Arabic, the riot cop then shouted: “God is great” and “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria.”
He died after a 15-minute shootout with police.
Russia said it considered the diplomat’s death an act of terror.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack was aimed at hurting ties with Russia.
The shooting came days after street demonstrations against the bombing of Aleppo, and only the day before a scheduled meeting of the Russian, Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers.
Mr Erdogan spoke by phone to Mr Putin, who went on TV to call the shooting an “undoubted provocation”.
Mr Karlov was shot in the back at a photographic exhibition called “Russia as seen by Turks”. Altintas, in a black suit and tie, got in by showing his police pass.
After the killing he aimed his gun at reporters and continued his rant.
When the room was evacuated he was said to have pumped more bullets into his victim’s body.
He fled to a room above where he died in a hail of at least 11 police rounds.
Why is Russia bombing Aleppo?
Russia announced in September 2015 that would intervene militarily in Syria.
At that time Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops were retreating weakened by a fierce civil war being fought on many fronts.
With the backing of his government Vladimir Putin moved to prevent his ally from being significantly weakened or even outed.
He immediately launched air strikes over the country.
Putin has repeatedly said he entered the battle to fight Islamic State, however it is widely accepted that Russia's reasons for intervention were more complex.
Many bombs have fallen on opposition rebel troops strengthening Assad's position, which in turn protects Russia's assets in the area.
The country's only port in the Mediterranean is in the Syrian city of Tartus while its Khmeimim air base in the north-west of the country, its only airfield in the Middle East.
The bombing campaign can also be seen as a display of military strength by a posturing Russia wishing to show itself as a key world power to rival the US.
Russia's role in the bombing of Aleppo, which has seen nurseries, hospitals and civilian areas flattened, has been widely condemned by the international community.
On November 16 it pulled out of the International Criminal Court as as pressure mounted for prosecutors from The Hague court to launch a war crimes investigation into Kremlin generals.
Who is winning?
Aleppo has been divided since 2012 with government forces on the west of the city and rebels on the east.
The city's civilians on both sides have been caught in the middle of the dispute with many killed.
On September 22, two weeks after encircling the east of the city, government troops launched an all-out offensive to take control of the entire city.
The army has recaptured "99 per cent" of Syria’s second city in recent weeks and a UK-monitoring group opposed to the regime said the rebels had withdrawn from the last six neighbourhoods they held.
“We are in the final moments before declaring the victory of the Arab Syrian army in the battle of East Aleppo,” a Syrian military source reportedly told Reuters.
“We could announce this any moment.
“The operation in eastern neighbourhoods is entering its final phase”, he said earlier, as fierce clashes were reported in the few districts still under rebel control.
The gains have not come without tragedy however as the UN revealed 82 civilians were reportedly executed on the spot by government allied forces as they took the city.
It has been described as a "meltdown of humanity" by a spokesman for the organisations human rights office with the full extent of the killings as yet unknown.
The regime and its Russian backers have also been accused of deliberately targeting hospitals in rebel-held areas - with a team of brave Brit medics now set to travel to the city with a medical aid convoy to provide much-needed relief.
The east of the city is surrounded, isolated and battered with medical and food supplies fast running out.
No aid has been received since government forces cut off the rebel supply lines in July and and the population faces starvation this winter.
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