Everyone in Syria is grateful to Russia, Dmitry Sablin says

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Last week a delegation of Russian parliamentarians and social activists visited Syria. The aim of the visit was to deliver humanitarian aid to the republic and hold meetings with the authorities, social, political, and religious activists of the country, including Supreme Mufti of Syria Ahmad Badraddin Hassoun, Patriarch of Antioch and All East Joan X, the head of the National Council of Syria Mohammad al Laham, and members of the government and parliamentary committies.

According to Dmitry Sablin, member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, who also visited Damascus, the situation is calmer in Damascus in comparison with a year ago: “The military threat has decreased, there is free movement, fewer military checkpoints in Damascus than before. Life goes on. Although we had been of the opinion that the situation is critical. After the events in Palmyra the situation is extremely difficult. We had ambiguous feelings. We had a feeling of heaviness, we felt that the country is tired of the war. They say that there is no family that has not lost a member in the war, or somebody captured by terrorists.”

At the same time the MP noted that he was surprised by the very friendly attitude toward Russia. According to him, people are sincerely interested in developments in Russia: “Any person we met said that he watched the Parade which took place in Moscow and noted the Immortal Regiment. People are not indifferent to the situation in our country and in Europe in general.”

Moreover, the Syrians are thankful to Russia for regular humanitarian aid to the republic. “Russia is supplying wheat. It supplies a large amount of humanitarian aid. The countries cooperate in the military-technical sphere in the context of international agreements. As the Prime Minister of Syria said: "We have no doubts about our victory, we really need wheat, black oil and weapons in order to win," Dmitry Sablin says.

He is sure that such visits are necessary to understand the real situation in the country, which differs from the picture presented by the international media. “We visited the Patriarchate, visited the school children of deceased soldiers, Orthodox shelters, a hospital and, certainly, we had a lot of private meetings, which allowed us to have a general understanding of what is happening in Syria. We realized that, indeed, all the current processes in Syria, the Middle East, including Ukraine, have common links. We also realized and conclude that today a new map of the Middle East is changing. Certainly, the situation is accompanied by the suffering of the residents of Syria, women, the elderly, and children.”