Russia sends aid worth $1.3m to Assad

Russia has dispatched another consignment of humanitarian aid worth $1.3 million to the Assad regime

 The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the new batch, which was delivered to Damascus this week, includes medical equipment, clothes and food supplies, Ria Novosti news agency reported.

 The Russian ministry further stressed that Moscow would continue to provide the Syrian nation with humanitarian assistance. Moscow says it will also send aid to Syria under the umbrella of different international bodies.

 According to the report, the aid was collected by the St. Petersburg-based Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society and funded by the Russian Orthodox Church.

 On July 31, the United Nations said an estimated 6.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria.

 On July 12, Russia sent a total of 70 tons of humanitarian supplies to the Palestinian refugees residing in Syria. Moscow also sent more than 30 tons of similar humanitarian aid to the crisis-hit country in April.

 Syria's conflict began in March 2011 largely as peaceful protests against Assad's rule. It escalated into a civil war after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to the U.N.'s recent estimate.