This is not a movie set from the latest action flick. It is the embattled city of Aleppo.
Bombings have devastated the city. Rebels are the targets, but often it is Syrian civilians who bear the brunt of the attacks – losing their homes and family members in an instant.
A Russian airstrike on the rebel-held city killed at least 41 people on Tuesday, including at least five children. On Wednesday, a large market was struck where rescuers were trying to find survivors.
The one-minute video provides an aerial view of the destruction caused by the more than 5-year-old civil war. The video is one of the many that Aleppo Media Center publishes each day on YouTube to document the human toll of the civil war. Some are shot in the immediate aftermath of a strike. Smoke still hangs in the air as people nearby try to rescue those trapped in the now-destroyed building.
In recent weeks international attention has focused on Aleppo. It may have started with the video of a dazed Omran Daqneesh sitting in an ambulance after an attack on his home. That, too, was published by the Aleppo Media Center. The city became a major topic of discussion when Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson asked, “What is Aleppo?” in September.
Humanitarian groups struggled for years to draw attention to the crisis in Syria. People go on living in the city for years despite the attacks. Many fled to other parts of Syria or left the country as refugees, but some stayed. They endure constant attacks, which intensified after the temporary cease-fire broke down at the end of September.

A man walks between destroyed buildings after heavy shelling by regime forces in Aleppo, Syria on August 28, 2014. (Photo by Karam Almasri/NurPhoto/Sipa USA)
Now the city is under siege. Aid groups struggle to reach those trapped by the fighting between rebels and Syrian forces. Russian airstrikes in late September hit Syrian Red Crescent aid trucks. International-level efforts to stop the attacks on the city have failed so far.