UN humanitarian chief blasts Russia and security council over Syria conflict

A top humanitarian representative in the United Nations has launched a scathing indictment of the organisation's security council and its president Russia, for not doing more to end the conflict in Syria.

Stephen O'Brien told UN leaders on Wednesday that Syria would be "our generation's shame".

The northern city of Aleppo has been particularly devastated by airstrikes aided by Russian authorities, and O'Brien painted a dire picture of the atrocities in the city.

"These are people just like you and me – not sitting around a table in New York but forced into desperate, pitiless suffering, their future wiped out," he said in a speech directed towards the UN security council.

"Peoples' lives destroyed and Syria itself destroyed. And it is under our collective watch. And it need not be like this – this is not inevitable; it is not an accident."

He challenged the leaders of the council to act against the bombardment of the city.

"There is no question today about whether you, members of this Council, know what is going on – you clearly and tragically do. The question today is what you will do?" O’Brien questioned. "If you don't take action, there will be no Syrian peoples or Syria to save – that will be this council's legacy, our generation's shame."

Tensions between Russia and Western governments have reached fever pitch since a ceasefire between Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebels broke down last month and hostilities recommenced.

Approximately 450,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2011, as the country rapidly descended into civil war.