MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin is downplaying the Russian Defense Ministry's blunder when it backed its allegations of the U.S. colluding with the Islamic State group in Syria with a screenshot from a video game.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Wednesday that "mistakes happen," adding that the Russian military quickly corrected the error and punished the culprit.

The Defense Ministry on Tuesday backed its claim that the U.S. has protected IS militants in Syria with images showing a convoy of vehicles.

The Bellingcat investigative group quickly noted that one of the images came from mobile phone game AC-130 Gunship Simulator, while the rest were taken from a 2016 video showing an Iraqi air force raid on IS.

The ministry then removed the images and blamed the mistake on a civilian contractor.