The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that an inner yard of the embassy complex had been hit by a shell in the afternoon.

Another shell fell near the diplomatic mission, the statement added.

Moscow condemned the shelling, which it blamed on "extremists."

The foreign ministry said the incident amounted to a provocation aimed at derailing the settlement of peace in Syria.

The Russian diplomatic mission in war-torn Syria has so far come under several militant attacks.

Russia has been engaged in an anti-terror campaign in Syria since September 30, 2015, based on a request from the Damascus government. According to analysts, the campaign has largely been successful in helping Syrian government forces dislodge foreign-sponsored terrorists from many regions across the country.

Since March 2011, Syria has been hit by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the UN have put the death toll from the conflict in Syria at more than 300,000 and 400,000, respectively. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources, Press TV reported.

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