Press release
Syrian National Coalition – Syria
Department of Media and Communications
September 30, 2019
The Russian option in favor of the Assad regime and in the face of the aspirations and rights of the Syrian people has been a clear option since the beginning of the Syrian Revolution. Russia’s political stances and its direct military intervention were not only a form of support for the regime, but a major element in escalating the situation on the ground as it led to unprecedented level of escalation, criminality and displacement.
Reports by rights groups gave detailed figures of the results of this intervention since day one. According to these reports, the Russian occupation is responsible for the destruction of at least 201 schools, 190 medical centers, and the targeting of 56 popular markets. These attacks claimed the lives of at least 6,686 people, including 1,928 children and 808 women as well as displaced 3.3 million people out of their homes. The real figures could be much higher.
The Russian aggression is responsible, directly or indirectly, for Assad’s crimes as Russia has been trying to cover up these crimes; propping up the regime, and providing it with political, diplomatic and military support. Furthermore, Russia used the veto 13 times to shield the regime and prevent any international action against it.
Despite all what these reports revealed and what the documents confirmed, they will not be able to document the real toll of this criminal intervention that has disrupted the project of popular democratic change in Syria for years. This intervention also led to diverting the events in the country and the entire Arab region as well as impeded the task of construction and development for many years.
The Russian aggression has further complicated efforts to reach a political solution in Syria and caused a massive military escalation that served the terror of the regime, Iran and their militias.
The Syrian people are well aware that the crimes being perpetrated by the Kremlin in Syria has nothing to do with the honorable people of Russia who are making immense sacrifices for the sake of freedom of their homeland. They have been living for decades under an authoritarian regime that assassinates political dissidents, cracks down on freedoms, devotes the country’s resources to influential oligarchs, and uses Russia’s resources to prop up authoritarian regimes around the world.
The Syrian National Coalition reiterates that the international community is responsible and obliged to find appropriate mechanisms to put an end to the subversive Russian and Iranian roles in the region, including moving more effectively and using more influential tools in dealing with the aggressors.
We affirm that any serious effort to put an end to the catastrophe unfolding on the ground must begin with the adoption of binding resolutions that ensure and end to the bloodshed and open the door to a political solution based on UN Security Council resolution 2254, including the full implementation of the Geneva Communique of 2012.
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