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Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation in Syria in 2015, allegedly to fight "international terrorism." At the same time, his real goal was to commit terrorism against the enslaved population of the country. This is stated in the material of The Times.
The publication reminds that the Russian aviation has repeatedly bombed hospitals and civilian areas in Syria. Similar tactics were used in Putin's brutal war against Ukraine.
"The collapse of Bashar al-Assad's tyranny is, first of all, a long-awaited relief for the people of Syria, it also marks, in geopolitical terms, a huge setback for the Kremlin," the media writes.
The authors believe that by intervening in Assad's war, the Putin regime imagined that the use of force without restraint or respect for international humanitarian law would decisively change the balance of power in the country and the region, and for a time it appeared to have succeeded - notably the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia stopped demand the departure of Assad as a prerequisite for negotiations on the future of Syria:
Putin positioned himself simultaneously as an honest mediator and as a fighter against Islamist extremism in the region. None of these things are true."
At the same time, the publication claims, Putin has "sold" successive US administrations the idea that he can restrain Assad and force him to destroy his chemical weapons stockpile. At the same time, the Putin regime has never given up on its goal of allowing Assad to win by any means necessary. In turn, Western governments consistently and misleadingly viewed Russia as an integral part of any negotiated settlement.
"Putin viewed Russia's invasion of Syria as part of a broader goal, regional and global. He saw himself as a reliable partner for his allies, unencumbered by the niceties of minimizing civilian casualties, and thus a deterrent to Western intervention. ... Western governments should not allow him to speak at all about what is currently happening in Syria and the Middle East," the media summarizes.
The situation in Syria - the latest news
The leader of the Syrian rebels, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, made a statement to the media. According to him, with the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime, peace will come to Syria, and the West should not be afraid of the rebels coming to power in this country.
He also reported that the US State Department predicted the future of Russia's military bases in Syria. They believe that Russia supported the brutal Assad regime, which killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrian civilians, so the Kremlin "undoubtedly has something to answer for before the people of all of Syria."
