4/12/2024–|Last updated: 12/4/202402:26 AM (Mecca time)
On Tuesday, the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, accused Ukraine of providing military support, especially with drones, to fighters of the Syrian opposition factions in the massive attack it has launched against the Syrian regime forces and its allies in northwestern Syria since last Wednesday, during which it took control of large areas of Among them is the city of Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria and the economic capital of the country.
Nebenzia said at a meeting held by the UN Security Council to discuss the escalation in Syria, “We would like to draw attention in particular to the presence of identifiable traces indicating the involvement of the Main Directorate of Ukrainian Intelligence in organizing hostilities and supplying fighters with weapons in northwestern Syria.”
He added, “We point out the identification of Ukrainian military trainers who were training Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham fighters in combat operations.”
The Russian ambassador claimed that “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham fighters not only hide the fact that they are supported by Ukraine, but rather brag about it,” accusing Ukraine of providing them with drones in particular.
He added, “Cooperation between Ukrainian and Syrian terrorists motivated by hatred for Syria and Russia continues to recruit fighters into the Ukrainian armed forces and organize attacks against Russian and Syrian forces in Syria.”
Last Wednesday, the Syrian armed opposition factions began a military attack called Operation “Deterring Aggression,” the largest in years, during which they took control of large areas and major cities and towns in the northwest of the country, including most of the city of Aleppo, including its international airport, and completed their control over the entire area of Idlib Governorate. And dozens of villages and towns in the Hama countryside and on the outskirts of the city of Hama.
Hassan Abdul Ghani, spokesman for the Military Operations Department – which includes Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, the National Liberation Front and other factions – said that the aim of the operation was to direct a “pre-emptive strike” against the crowds of regime forces threatening opposition-controlled positions.
The clashes in the region come after months of relative calm, which were punctuated by sporadic bombing operations by the Syrian army on areas under opposition control.
This progress is the first of its kind since March 2020, when Russia – which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – and Turkey, which supports opposition factions, agreed to a ceasefire that led to an end to the military confrontations in the last major opposition stronghold in northwestern Syria.