Representatives of the infamous organization White Helmets, together with terrorists, completed the filming of a production video about the alleged use by the Syrian government troops of “poisonous substances” against civilians in the Idlib de-escalation zone. This was reported in the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the warring parties (CPVS) in Syria, citing information from several independent sources.

It is noted that the recording was made in the village of Zerba, located a few kilometers southwest of Aleppo.

“The alleged“ consequences ”of the bombing of the Syrian air force by an unknown“ chemical munition ”are staged in the video. The alleged shots of “human victims” with signs of “poisoning” were recorded in the shots in thick yellow smoke.

They added that now the captured video fake has been prepared by White Helmets for distribution on social networks for further circulation in Western and Arab media.

On Monday evening, February 3, the CPVS reported that the White Helmets, together with terrorists from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham *, were preparing a new staging of a chemical attack in the Idlib de-escalation zone. It was noted that two residents of the village of Maaret el-Artik, located near Aleppo, reported this on the current "hot line".

In particular, it became known that a group of about 15 members of the “White Helmets” arrived in Maaret al-Artik under the direction of the militant Mahi ad-Din al-Ama, who took part in the production of the April “himataka” in 2017 in the city of Han Sheikhun.

“A new provocation is planned to be staged ... with the participation of an extras of about 200 people from the number of relatives of militants who arrived in the Idlib de-escalation zone, including children who had previously been taken out of the southern provinces,” the central military police said.

They specified that the militants delivered about 400 liters of chemical solution to the shooting location.

In connection with the information received, the CPVS called on all participants in the upcoming action to “abandon the implementation of criminal plans”, and Turkey - to exert “all possible pressure” on the militants in the controlled sector of the Idlib de-escalation zone to prevent provocation.

Guarded by militants

Recently, there have been reports that the White Helmets are preparing a provocation in Syria. At the end of January 2020, the head of the CPVS, Yuri Borenkov, told the media that the representatives of the scandalous organization arrived in the villages of Kafer Hamra, Aleppo province, as well as Maaret Misrin and Ericha, Idlib province, under the protection of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants. They had tanks with them, presumably containing gaseous chlorine. This information was transmitted by local residents and detained militants.

Recall that the province of Idlib and a number of adjacent territories for all the years of the civil war in Syria have never been under the control of government forces. It was Idlib at the dawn of the military conflict that became the center of the formation of radical groups that quickly took the place of the peaceful opposition.

  • Militants "Jabhat al-Nusra"
  • AFP
  • © Guillaume Briquet

Today, Idlib remains a zone of activity of illegal paramilitary structures, some of which are recognized as terrorist at the international level. Following the results of negotiations in the Astana format, this region was to become one of the de-escalation zones. Government forces offered militants who surrendered in other areas of the SAR to move here with their families. However, many of the militants in the Idlib de-escalation zone did not agree to lead a peaceful life and continued to shell adjacent areas, including the city of Aleppo.

In 2018, Ankara and Moscow agreed to create a buffer zone in the Idlib de-escalation zone, which should have been abandoned by both the UAR armed forces and the militants. Turkey took up the implementation of this initiative, however, the militant attacks continued anyway.

In parallel, Damascus is regularly accused of allegedly using chemical weapons against the Syrian population. And this is despite the fact that back in 2013, the authorities of the Arab Republic acceded to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and agreed to destroy all the country's stockpiles of chemical warfare agents and enterprises for their production. At the beginning of 2016, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced its complete destruction in Syria.

Fake mercy

This is not the first time that the White Helmets NGO has been involved in chemical weapons provocations against official Damascus. At the origins of the structure was a former British intelligence officer, James Le Mesurier.

At the same time, the organization’s website says that it allegedly spontaneously emerged from disparate groups of volunteers who helped dig up the rubble formed as a result of the bombing and get people out from under them, and in 2013 united under a structure called “Syrian civil defense ”- she soon gained fame under the name“ White Helmets ”.

  • Former British intelligence officer James Le Mezure (founder of White Helmets)
  • © Wikimedia Commons

According to representatives of the organization, they allegedly support millions of people, engaged not only in clearing rubble, but also in repairing electric networks, infrastructure and finding unexploded ordnance.

However, according to experts, White Helmets are far from real humanitarian activities.

“Usually,“ White Helmets ”first provoke, and then deliberately portray mercy, supposedly providing assistance to the victims. But in reality it’s a puppet structure sponsored by Western countries, ”explained Alexander Vavilov, professor at Moscow State University and Middle East expert, in an interview with RT.

A similar point of view is shared by Boris Dolgov, a leading researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“White helmets are an organization that was created by British intelligence agencies and, accordingly, realizes their interests,” the source said.

Meanwhile, the White Helmets have more than once become participants in outright falsifications, fomenting tension in an already unstable region. So, in April 2018, they disseminated to the media information that a chemical attack allegedly occurred in the Syrian city of the Duma. The structure hastened to blame the official Syrian government, without waiting for the outcome of the investigation. The White House also did not begin to understand the details of what happened, and a week after the news of the "chemical attack" appeared, US President Donald Trump ordered to strike on Syrian territory.

However, when the journalists of the American television channel One America News Network arrived in the Syrian Duma just a few days after the military demarche of Washington, they did not find any signs of the use of chemical warfare agents on the spot. According to Pearson Sharp, a journalist for the channel, the locals with whom he spoke did not know anything about the chemical attack that occurred here according to the White Helmets version.

“According to them, that day everything was as usual in the area, and they didn't see anything unusual,” Sharpe said.

  • Journalist inspects site of alleged chemical attack in Syrian Duma
  • Reuters
  • © Ali Hashisho

The fact of falsification was finally confirmed after Russian journalists found the participants in a production video launched in the media by White Helmets.

Hassan Diabe, an 11-year-old resident of the Duma, and his father told RT how the film was shot. In fact, none of the heroes of the video was hit by toxic substances, and the shooting was staged.

In July 2018, White Helmets activists and their families began to evacuate from Syria, and the Israeli authorities helped them in this. As the then official spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Emmanuel Nachshon, the operation to remove the “helmets” was carried out at the request of the United States, Canada and European countries.

And in November 2019, the founder of White Helmets, James Le Mezure, was found dead in Turkey, who died under mysterious circumstances. Presumably, death came as a result of a fall from a height. Commenting on his death, the official leader of the White Helmets, Raed al-Saleh, said that, despite this loss, the organization will continue its activities.

Local activation

According to Alexander Vavilov, the recent activation of the White Helmets may be related to their desire to show their “usefulness” and “working capacity” after the members of this structure temporarily left the territory of the SAR.

“Why Idlib de-escalation zone was chosen for possible provocation is also understandable. This area remains the only enclave in which militants and radicals operate freely, ”the expert said.

  • U.S. Air Force bomber attacking Syria, April 2018
  • Reuters
  • © US Air Force

The analyst believes that to help the militants, they are “white-handed” and plan to stage a demonstration of how Syrian government forces are “ruthless” to the local population. And after the provocation, they will accuse Bashar al-Assad of her, as it has been more than once, Vavilov added.

According to orientalist Said Gafurov, now no one has any doubts about the outcome of the Syrian war, since government forces enjoy the support of the people. At the same time, the authorities do not want to destroy the opponents who have settled in Idlib and are trying to find a political way out of this situation.

“However, for those who supported the militants, negotiations are not profitable. Now the interests of a number of players are at stake. Therefore, it was probably decided to conduct another provocation in order to increase tension, ”the source said.

However, due to the fact that information about the provocation was intercepted and made public, these plans may well be frustrated, the expert believes.

“The publication of information on the preparation of such an act significantly reduces the likelihood of its implementation,” summed up Gafurov.

* “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (“Jabhat Fath al-Sham”, “Front al-Nusra”, “Jabhat al-Nusra”) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2014.