Images of Kharkiv under fire, of Mariupol under siege, of civilians trying to flee under the threat of bombing: the Russian invasion of Ukraine brings back memories of the war Moscow waged in their country among Syrians from 2015, in support of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. “The sieges, the humanitarian corridors, the peace negotiations conducted to the sound of cannons: these are the same methods that we suffered during the six months of siege in Aleppo, the same strategies to gain time, to inflict the most possible damage to civilians and infrastructure, and make those who defend themselves pay a heavy price”, accuses Dr. Hamza Al-Khatib, evacuated from Aleppo on December 21, 2016, with the last civilians and rebel fighters.
The martyrdom of Aleppo, the economic capital of northern Syria, forever bears the Russian imprint, like Grozny, in Chechnya, before it. From April to December 2016, the eastern districts of the city, in the hands of the Syrian opposition since 2012, and their 300,000 inhabitants were subjected to a ruthless siege and indiscriminate bombardments by Russian aircraft to support the advance. pro-regime forces and obtain the capitulation of the rebels. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 2,872 civilians have been killed, including 330 women and 630 children, and more than 16,000 others injured in six months. The United Nations has listed 33,000 badly damaged structures in the city, mostly in the east.
Aleppo has become the symbol of the devastating campaign waged by Moscow to save, at all costs, President Bashar Al-Assad. Under the guise of fighting the Islamic State (IS) organization and terrorism, Russia intervened in September 2015 at the call of the Syrian dictator who, four years after the start of the revolution, had lost control of entire sections from the country. The Syrian campaign was also for Vladimir Putin, burned by Western support for the “Arab Spring” and the intervention in Libya in 2011, the perfect opportunity to regain a foothold in the Middle East and to offer his army a field of military training.
In six years of war, more than 63,000 soldiers have been engaged in Syria, from the Hmeimim air base and the naval base at the port of Tartous, and nearly 320 modern weapons tested, according to Moscow. Mercenaries from the private security company Wagner have been deployed to loyalist forces and pro-Iranian Shiite militias. “Syria allowed them to conduct tests in real conditions, to modernize their doctrine and its tactical-operational application. It was important in terms of feedback,” analyzes Mathieu Boulègue, associate researcher at the Chatham House think tank.
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