Moscow on Saturday accused what it termed Syrian "moderate rebels" of causing a ceasefire to fail as it accused opposition fighters of launching some 55 attacks while it blamed US-led coalition strikes for the deaths of 62 Syrian soldiers.

In a statement, the Russian defence ministry said "moderate rebels have caused the ceasefire to fail". The ceasefire, in force since Monday, was a last-ditch effort to stop the bloodshed in the war-torn country.