Syria's army has said that anybody who remains in the city of Aleppo after offering those who wish to leave an opportunity to do so would face their “inevitable fate”.
A statement issued late on Wednesday said the army had cut off insurgents' supply lines into the northern city and that it had accurate information about the location of all their positions and arms stores. It urged all fighters there to lay down their arms and leave.
Earlier on Wednesday, the army said it was reducing its air strikes and shelling of rebel-held eastern Aleppo to alleviate the humanitarian situation and allow people to depart for safer areas if they wanted to do so.
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The army, backed by Shia militias from Iraq and Lebanon, as well as Russia's air force, began an offensive against eastern Aleppo on September 19 after the collapse of a week-long truce. The offensive began with one of the war's most intense bombardments.
The scale of destruction in Aleppo since the offensive began has prompted mounting international concern and caused the United States to break talks with Russia on attempting to renew a ceasefire.
The army and its allies have made some territorial gains in the northern part of Aleppo since the offensive began and have also opened fronts in the city centre and in the south.
Moscow: Syria campaign shows 'reliability' of Russian arms
Moscow's year-long bombing campaign in Syria has showcased the "reliability" of Russian weaponry, as the Kremlin has helped stabilise the war-ravaged country, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday.
"In that period we have managed to stabilise the situation in the country and liberate a significant part of the territory from armed international terrorist groups," Shoigu told a conference.
"Many types of modern weapons produced in our country were tested in difficult desert conditions and generally have shown their reliability and effectiveness."
The comments come as international anger grows over Moscow's air support for a ferocious regime assault on eastern Aleppo that has prompted accusations of potential war crimes. The United States on Monday suspended talks with Russia on a ceasefire in Syria in protest at Moscow stepping up its bombing campaign.
Russia launched its military operation in Syria last September to back up long-time ally Bashar al-Assad to Western ire, helping to shore up the regime's embattled forces. Russia's military has denied repeated accusations that it has struck civilian targets in the country during its year-long bombing campaign.
Moscow has used Syria as a testing-ground for a range of new weaponry including long-range missiles fired from ships, submarines and warplanes.
Those include the X-101 rocket that has a range of 4,500km and was fired from bombers that took off from bases in Russia, Shoigu said.
Built on the foundations of its Soviet-era predecessor, Russia's arms industry is a key source of income for the country and brought in some $14.5bn in 2015.