France and Britain’s foreign ministers raised the prospect of investigating Russia for war crimes ahead of an emergency United Nations meeting about the spiralling violence in Syria.

The emergency session on Sunday was called to discuss the escalation of fighting in Aleppo, with Syrian activists saying at least 23 civilians have been killed in renewed government airstrikes.

Hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties and the toll is expected to rise.

The Britain–based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 213 civilians have been killed by airstrikes and shelling in Aleppo since a US–Russian brokered ceasefire collapsed a week ago.

Syrian Civil Defense has posted more traumatic videos of the bombing on social media, including this one on YouTube of rescuers pulling a baby girl out of rubble by her hair:

At Sunday’s meeting the American ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, called Russia’s action in Syria “barbarism” not counter-terrorism.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Russia and Iran will be guilty of war crimes if they don’t pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to stop escalating violence.

Moscow’s envoy Vitaly Churkin said ending the war in Syria is almost an impossible task now. 

UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura vows he won’t quit efforts to salvage a ceasefire. Photo: UN

However the United Nations special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura told the same meeting he was convinced the situation in Syria could still be turned and said he would not quit, as Russia and the United States try to salvage a ceasefire.

Describing the current situation in Syria as “chilling”, he told the meeting the Secretary–General was appalled by the escalating violence.

Reporting that Aleppo is being reduced to rubble in the face of a “remarkable new intensity – unprecedented in scale and type of bombing,” Mr. de Mistura said “this Council has the responsibility to relaunch the cessation of hostilities” and reiterated his appeal for a common course of action.