Northern Syria -

"What is happening in Ukraine today, Syria has been going through for 11 years, including the destruction of homes and the displacement of the population, and this should not be repeated." Ukrainian against the Russian attack.

Al-Asmar says that "Russia's military policy and the imposition of its hegemony by force of arms will not stop if the Security Council and the international community do not unite to put an end to it."

Aziz Al-Asmar: What is happening in Ukraine has been facing Syria for 11 years (Al-Jazeera)

"Enemy One"

The scenes of destruction, bombing, and population displacement in Ukraine reminded Syrians of the days of the Russian intervention in favor of the Syrian regime in its war against the opposition, and how Russia turned their cities into rubble, before forcing them to leave on buses of forced displacement.

Thaer Abu Saleh, who is one of the displaced Syrians in Idlib, suffers from great distress and bitterness as he follows the Russian attack on Ukraine, criticizing what he described as international inaction against the Ukrainian people and repeating what happened in Syria in ignoring the will of the people.

Abu Saleh tells Al Jazeera Net that the current events only remind him of his city of Aleppo, from which he left after the Russian planes destroyed its neighborhoods and killed many residents, and the pictures in front of him are in his memory as if they happened yesterday.

He believes that he can only show solidarity with the Ukrainian people under these circumstances, stressing that "the enemy is one and shared between Syria and Ukraine."

The tragedy is one and the criminal is


one..the Russian machine of oppression that the criminal world shares its silence on..it


was in #Afghanistan, then #Syria, today in #Ukraine, and tomorrow maybe #Europe..!!!


Those who pay the price are the peoples, especially children and women..# Putin_a war criminal# Russian_Ukrainian war pic.twitter.com/5sa7okN1mp

— Ahmed Rahhal |

Ahmed Rahal (@pressrahhal) February 24, 2022

lessons and preparation

In turn, the media activist from Idlib, Ahmed Rahal, says that the Syrian people have been suffering for years from Russian military attacks, pointing out that he and his peers are saddened by the sight of a child under the rubble or the destruction of infrastructure in Ukraine.

As for the photojournalist, Bilal Al-Hamoud, he says that the Syrian opposition has been steadfast in the face of the Russian military forces for years, and that the military difference is not always decisive, directing his message to the Ukrainian people to benefit from the lessons in Syria, especially since Ukraine possesses a military force through which it can withstand the Russians.

But the Syrian opposition fighter Suhail al-Hamoud, nicknamed "Abu al-Taw", went beyond solidarity and praising the Ukrainian people, expressing his willingness to fight alongside the Ukrainian forces against the Russian attack.

The most famous shooter of the TOW missiles in the ranks of the opposition forces, nicknamed "Tank Destroyer", expressed in a tweet on Twitter his willingness to travel to Ukraine, which attracted some Ukrainians, and many thanked him and welcomed him to Ukraine.

bias towards humanity

It was not limited to individuals, as the "Syrian Civil Defense" organization, nicknamed the "White Helmets", expressed its full solidarity with the Ukrainian people, expressing a feeling of frustration at the thought of repeating the Syrian tragedy in another country.

Munir Al-Mustafa, Deputy Director of the Syrian Civil Defense for Humanitarian Affairs, said that his institution's position towards any event in the world is a position of bias towards humanity alone, and solidarity with the peoples who are exposed to aggression and a call for accountability.

Al-Mustafa indicated - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that the Syrians' experience in the war makes them the most people who feel the pain of the Ukrainian people.


"Date correction"

On the other hand, the government of the Syrian regime views the attack of its most prominent ally (Russia) as a process of restoring balance to the world, which it "lost after the dissolution of the Soviet Union", declaring its full support for Moscow.

The President of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, considered the military operation "a correction of history," saying that "Russia today does not only defend itself, but also the world and the principles of justice and humanity."

Al-Assad added - in the first telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine last Thursday - that "Syria stands with the Russian Federation, based on its conviction of the correctness of its position."

However, even loyalists of the Syrian regime feel the dangers of the Russian attack on Ukraine, and fear its economic and military consequences on Syria and the accompanying continued bleeding of prices and the high cost of living that the country suffers from.