“What is happening in Ukraine is the Syrian scenario, but accelerated”

A white helmet first aider examines a baby in an ambulance, after airstrikes by Syrian government forces in the rebel town of Ouroum al-Koubra, in Aleppo province, on August 10, 2018. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Text by: Sami Boukhelifa Follow

4 mins

The war in Ukraine, and its echoes in the Middle East.

Syria celebrates a sad anniversary this Tuesday: 11 years of war.

And as in Ukraine today, the Russian army is also intervening in the Syrian theater, against a destitute population.

To bring assistance to the populations, a Syrian humanitarian civil protection organization was created in 2013. The White Helmets continue to fulfill this mission, even today.   

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For years, Syrians opposed to the regime of Bashar al-Assad have suffered the destructive bombardments of his Russian ally.

Our correspondent in Jerusalem 

spoke with

a Syrian humanitarian civil protection organization. 

RFI: Do you see any similarities between the Russian offensive in Ukraine and the one you experienced in Syria?    

Raed Saleh: 

What is happening in Ukraine is the Syrian scenario, but accelerated.

In 19 days of war, Russia bombed around 30 hospitals in Ukraine.

The Russians also targeted basic infrastructure, civilians and humanitarian corridors.

This is exactly what happened in Syria for years.

The military strategy is identical.

The Russians launch intense bombardments, and this clears the way for ground troops, who seek to take the Ukrainian cities.  

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And when the situation gets a little bogged down on the ground, that's when the Russians attack hospitals and hydraulic and electrical power stations.

All of this has the sole objective of displacing people and forcing them into exile.  

As a Syrian who has lived through all these atrocities, what is your message to the international community?   

The Syrian people have been abandoned to their sad fate by the international community.

We call on the international community not to make the same mistakes with the Ukrainians.

We have suffered far too much to accept that another people endure the same cruelties as us, and pay for the crimes of

.  

The Russian president is not only the greatest dictator in the world, but he is also the protector of other dictatorships.

He is the guarantor of the Syrian regime, which has resorted to chemical weapons.

And it is not excluded that Putin also resorts to it in Ukraine.  

The international community absolutely must stop Vladimir Putin.

He must be held accountable for his crimes in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and several other countries.  

We alerted the international community: put an end to Putin's actions in Syria.

No one listened, and today you have to face him in Ukraine.

It's history repeating itself.

You didn't stop him in Georgia, he took Crimea, and now

, and he's not going to stop.

As long as it remains unpunished, it will continue its exactions against the Ukrainians as with the Syrians, and other peoples still risk being victims of its crimes.  

What is the situation in Syria at the time of this sad anniversary: ​​11 years of war, this March 15?  

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we no longer suffer from Russian aerial bombardments.

But that doesn't mean we're immune.

The Russians still have artillery deployed in Syria.

There is still shooting from areas controlled by the Syrian regime, towards civilians in rebel areas.  

The last Russian airstrikes in Syria date back two months.

They targeted northwestern Syria.  

And here, I take this opportunity to recall the words of the Syrian Defense Minister.

He too will have to answer for his crimes in front of Justice.

He said his army had tested more than 300 weapons in Syria.

They turned Syria into a laboratory, and civilians paid the price.

And these are the same weapons that are used today against the Ukrainian people, such as laser-guided missiles.

Putin is not the only one involved in these crimes, several other Russian officials will have to answer for their actions before the international community.  

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