The Russian president issued a statement in which he condemned in the most severe language the missile strike on Syria inflicted by the United States and its allies.

The Russian leader stressed that the missile bombardment of the SAR was carried out without the sanction of the UN Security Council and in violation of the UN Charter, becoming, in fact, an act of aggression against a sovereign state.

"Again, like a year ago, when the US attacked the Shayrat airbase in Syria, the staging of the use of poisonous substances against the civilian population was used as a pretext - this time in the Duma, a suburb of Damascus. Russian military experts, having visited the place of the alleged incident, did not find any traces of the use of chlorine or other poisonous substances. No local resident has confirmed the fact of chemical attack, "- said in a statement by Putin, published on the Kremlin's website.