The playbook for Moscow’s brutal bombardment of Aleppo was written during the Russian president’s savage war in Chechnya when the Russian forces blasted the Chechen capital of Grozny to the ground between 1999 and 2000, burying its residents under the rubble, Ukrainian officials have said.
In a statement signed by First Deputy of Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Iryna Herashchenko, Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament Hanna Hopko, and Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament on European integration, Mariya Ionova, the MPS called on international organizations, especially the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation to take every possible action to put pressure on the Russian and Assad regimes to force them to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
The MPs called on the United Nations to devise mechanisms to investigate the war crimes being committed in Syria and to bring criminals to justice. They also called for tougher sanctions against Moscow as it is a major partner in these war crimes.
The statement expressed support for the cease-fire agreement announced in Syria on December 29, calling for an end to the genocide against civilians in Syria. The Ukrainian MPs stressed the need to initiate negotiations to reach a political solution in Syria. They expressed deep concern about the military escalation by the Russian and regime forces, describing this escalation as a “real massacre” against the peaceful people of the city of Aleppo. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Office)