- Syria's death toll rises unabated
- The suburbs of Homs and Damascus are particularly deadly
- The Russian Foreign Ministry criticizes the recent backing of rebels
- UNHCR: Refugees continue to spill over into neighboring countries
(CNN) -- As the total death toll in Syria marches towards 40,000, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday lambasted the recent U.S. backing of Syria's opposition in its quest to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Homs and Damascus are the deadliest places in Syria, according to an opposition group that keeps a running total of those whose lives came to a bloody end in 20-month armed conflict.
Read more: Syrian opposition leader expects more from U.S.
Of the 37,387 who have perished since fighting began, 6,992 were killed in Homs and 6,750 in the suburbs of Damascus, said the Violations Documentation Center.
The total number includes 3,061 government soldiers, which the group only recently started to include in its count.
Read more: Young Syrian amputee makes dangerous journey to find help
Syria's new opposition leader Russia's Foreign Ministry published harsh criticism in its active Twitter feed of the recent show of support by the United States, France and Arab states around the Persian Gulf for fighters trying to topple Assad.
"The Syrian opposition has been given a false signal, strengthening the positions of extremists, including terrorists," a tweet reads. The ministry said the decision went against international principles on Syria established in Geneva.
Quoting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the ministry tweeted: "If the priority is Assad's fate, it will be paid for with new casualties in #Syria. Our key priority is to prevent such sacrifices."
Lavrov met with the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday. Russia has shown support for its long-standing ally Assad, while the GCC openly backs the opposition. Both sides have been accused of supplying weapons to the conflict parties.
The conflict raged on Thursday in Syria's perpetual flashpoints with no sign of losing intensity. The killing continues to drive civilians to flee over the country's borders.
The U.N. refugee office says 414,838 Syrians are in neighboring countries registered as refugees or waiting to register. Turkey has single highest number with 114,944, it says.
The Violations Documentation Center regularly publishes a meticulous tally of those who have been killed during Syria's armed conflict, claiming to include in its count only those whose deaths are documented on video or with an ID card. It works closely with the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a source commonly cited in reports on Syria.
Both organizations support the overthrow of the Syrian government.
Their statistics will continue to rise. Sixteen have died already on Thursday, according to early death toll reports by the LCC.
A Turkish soldier in a foxhole in Ceylanpinar, Turkey, watches Syrian opposition fighters praying in the strategic Syrian border town of Ras al-Ain on Wednesady, November 14. View photos from November in this gallery, and see October photos from the conflict here. 
A Syrian rebel commander of the Halab al-Shabah battalion motivates fighters during clashes with regime forces in Al-Amariya district of Aleppo on Tuesday, November 13. 
Smoke billows from burning tires as a Syrian rebel fires toward regime forces in Aleppo on Tuesday. 
Syrian rebels take position in Aleppo on Tuesday. 
Smoke rises after Syrian aircraft bombed the strategic border town of Ras al-Ain, killing at least four people, wounding many others and sending panicked residents fleeing across to Turkey on Monday, November 12. 
Syrian opposition fighter Bazel Araj, 19, sleeps next to his gun in Aleppo on Sunday, November 11. 
Syrian opposition fighters pass a civilian as they patrol the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday. 
A Syrian opposition fighter walks in a destroyed house after hard clashes with Syrian regime forces in Ras al Ain on Saturday, November 10. 
Syrian nationals cross the border between the Syrian town of Ras al Ain and Ceylanpinar, Turkey, on Saturday. 
Syrian army soldiers ride along a street Saturday in the northern province of Aleppo. 
A Syrian opposition fighter stands in a destroyed house in Ras al Ain on Saturday. 
Syrians cross the border into Turkey on Friday, November 9, near the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar. 
Smoke rises after an explosion in the Syrian village of Bariqa near the the cease-fire line in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Wednesday, November 7. Israel is asking the U.N. Security Council to address an intrusion by Syrian tanks into the buffer zone between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights, which Israel says violates the two countries' Separation of Forces agreement. 
An Israeli Merkava tank crew sits in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights overlooking the Syrian village of Breqa on Tuesday, November 6. An Israeli military vehicle in the Golan Heights was hit by gunfire from Syria on Monday, the Israeli army said. 
A mortar shell explodes in the Syrian village of Breqa on Tuesday. 
Syrian rescue workers evacuate a woman and her two children from a building targeted by an airstrike from government forces in a town northeast of Aleppo on Sunday, November 4. An AFP correspondent reported three air strikes on the town in close succession. 
Syrian people take cover as a second bomb explodes during a rescue attempt in nearby a building that was hit during an air raid by government forces earlier on Sunday. 
A Syrian rebel fighter rests on a couch in a rebel-controlled building on the front line in Aleppo's northern Izaa quarter on Sunday. 
A mannequin used by rebel fighters as a decoy is seen in an area where clashes continue with pro-government forces in Aleppo on Friday, November 2. 
A member of the Free Syrian Army runs for cover from sniper fire in Aleppo on Friday. 
Members of the Free Syrian Army stand close to an unexploded bomb dropped by a fighter jet weeks earlier, at a checkpoint in Aleppo on Thursday, November 1. 
Buildings lie destoryed by what activists say were missiles fired by a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Erbeen, near Damascus on Thursday. See photographs from October. 
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