Syrian civil war: Russia, U.S. to work together in Geneva

While world leaders decry the bombing of a children's hospital in Aleppo, an unusual partnership in the Syrian civil war is forming in Geneva.

U.S. and Russian military members will work together at a monitoring center in Geneva, Switzerland to keep tabs on the so-called cessation of hostilities in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"Now we will have a permanent monitoring center where U.S. and Russian counterparts will be sitting at the same table," Lavrov said Tuesday in a joint news conference with Staffan de Mistura, the U.N.'s special envoy to Syria.

"They will be looking at the same maps. They will be analyzing proposals, and they will work together to make sure that any violations are nipped in the bud. Probably this is a major step forward toward a more intensive coordination of the efforts by Russia and the U.S."

Russia is well known for backing the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime; U.S. officials blame him for the widespread deaths of civilians in opposition areas.

De Mistura said the U.N. was "very proud" to be able to quickly organize a sophisticated operations center with more staff from both the Russian and U.S. sides.

The special envoy said the operations center can help contain violence "through the influence each side can have."

"And I believe that can also be an experiment for the future, if this, as I hope, will be working," he added.

But every day, the violence in Syria continues unabated.

Hospitals bombed

The city of Aleppo, once Syria's bustling cultural and economic hub, is now a war-torn wasteland.

Hospitals lay in ruins, reduced to rubble in attacks blamed on government forces and rebels.

Aleppo has seen "catastrophic deterioration" in recent days, said Jan Egeland, chairman of the U.N. task force on humanitarian access in Syria.

One of the most shocking events in the country's five-year civil war came last week, when an airstrike destroyed a pediatric hospital in Aleppo.

At least 50 people died, according to Pablo Marco of Doctors Without Borders in the Middle East.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry blamed the Syrian regime. A U.S. military official told CNN that U.S. forces were not operating in the area of the hospital.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon went as far as to call strikes on hospitals "war crimes."

"Denying people access to essential health care is a serious violation of international humanitarian law," he said Tuesday.

The Syrian regime denied it was responsible for the hospital attack, which took place in a rebel-held part of Aleppo. Russia also denied involvement.

Days later, rocket attacks targeting government-held areas in Aleppo killed at least 17 people Monday, state media reported.

Fatalities included people killed at al-Dhabit hospital, state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

State media blamed the attack on al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front and other Islamic insurgent groups. The monitoring rights group also said Islamist rebel groups were behind the shelling.

"The bottom line is there is no justification for this horrific violence that targets civilians or medical facilities or first responders no matter who it is, whether it's a member of the opposition retaliating or the regime in its brutality against the civilians which has continued for five years," Kerry said.

Civilians perform first aid

Security footage obtained by Britain's Channel 4 showed the pediatric hospital in Aleppo before and after the attack. 

The footage shows a doctor, Mohammed Maaz leaving the intensive care unit and walking the halls of the ill-fated hospital. He's reportedly the last remaining pediatrician in Aleppo,

Maaz disappears. Minutes later, the hospital is hit. After the chaos of the explosion, there are stark, ghostly images of survivors evacuating the building.

A nurse carrying a young child from the maternity ward. Civilians performing first aid.

Maaz does not reappear. Doctors Without Borders said he was among the 50 people killed.