"The Russian aviation did not carry out any combat tasks in this area of Syria," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, calling foreign media reports a "provocation."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Russian air strikes hit near a bakery and a medical clinic in Syria's rebel-held Idlib region early on Thursday.

At least five women were among the dead in the town of Ariha in Idlib province, where Russian-backed government forces are conducting an offensive against the country's last major rebel bastion, the monitor said.

The latest deaths bring the total number of civilians killed by Russian air strikes in Idlib over the past 24 hours to 21, the Observatory said.

Thousands of Russian troops are deployed across Syria in support of the Syrian army, while a contingent of Russian private security personnel also operates on the ground.