OREANDA-NEWS. Maria Zakharova, the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, said at a briefing that the USA is illegally transporting oil from the fields in northeast Syria under the pretext of fighting the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS).

“Bypassing their own sanctions, the Americans smuggle oil from Syria in the amount of more than 30 million dollars per month,” the politician stated. She noted that Washington’s illegal actions “raise many questions.” According to Zakharova, the United States is “covering up its criminal activity” with a fight against the Islamic State, which, as she recalled, was eliminated by March of this year. Zakharova concluded that there are discrepancies in the position of American administration.

Earlier, The Russian Ministry of Defense published on its Facebook page space images, which, according to the agency, indicate that the United States is tracking oil production in Syria. The representatives of the ministry state that the images prove that “Syrian oil before and after the defeat of the IS (Islamic State. – Ed.) terrorists in the territories beyond Euphrates under the reliable protection of US military was actively extracted and massively sent by fuel trucks for processing outside Syria.” “In consideration of the fact that the cost of one barrel of Syrian smuggled oil is 38 dollars, the monthly revenue of this “private business” of US public services exceeds 30 million dollars,” publication said. For income from oil smuggling, US authorities “will be ready to guard and defend oil wells in Syria from the mythical “hidden cells of the IS” without end,” Russian Defense Ministry resumed.