Kyiv is ready to support the Syrian people within the framework of the humanitarian program "Grain from Ukraine".
This was reported by the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tykhyi.
"We understand how difficult the current situation is for ordinary Syrians, and we are ready to extend a helping hand," he wrote.
Grain from Ukraine is a humanitarian food program launched on November 26, 2022, on the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933. Its goal is to deliver grain to the poorest countries in Africa. Now, the program may be expanded to Syria.
The humanitarian situation in Syria remains dire, despite the fall of former President Bashar al-Assadʼs regime. According to the UN, more than 12 million Syrians lack adequate access to food. The World Food Programme notes that three million Syrians are facing acute hunger. The civil war has destroyed agricultural production, significantly reduced food imports and caused prices to rise.
The overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria
Active clashes between rebels and Syrian troops have been ongoing in Syria since November 27. The offensive was launched by the Syrian Revolutionary Forces in "response to months of continuous attacks on civilians" by the Assad regime in Aleppo province.
Already on December 1, the media reported that Assadʼs forceshad lost control of Aleppo, for the first time since the beginning of the military conflict, which began more than ten years ago, and later also of the city of Hama, the fifth largest in the country.
On December 8, the Syrian opposition entered the Syrian capital, Damascus, and declared that it had overthrown the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Russian propagandists say that Assad has fled to Moscow.
Syrian rebels have already begun forming a transitional government — it will be headed by Muhammad Bashir, who headed the "Salvation Government" — a political structure created in 2017 in territories controlled by the Syrian opposition, primarily in the province of Idlib.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Bashar al-Assad had resigned as president of Syria and left the country, adding that he had given instructions to transfer power peacefully and had previously held talks with the parties to the conflict. Assad is now in Russia with his family and has been granted political asylum.
Civil War in Syria
The Syrian civil war has been ongoing since 2011. It began as a local conflict that gradually grew into an uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Over time, it has drawn not only the major regional powers, but also international organizations, military-political groups, and other countries.
The main participants in the conflict were regular military formations supporting former President Bashar al-Assad, the formations of the "moderate" Syrian opposition, Kurdish regionalists, and various terrorist groups. The parties to the conflict receive military assistance from other states: Russia and Iran support the government forces, while the Syrian opposition receives assistance from Western states, Turkey, and the Persian Gulf monarchies.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah also aided the Assad regime in the civil war and was present in Syria. However, it has now concentrated its forces in Lebanon to repel an Israeli offensive in the south of the country. In the conflict, Hezbollah has lost thousands of fighters, as well as its commanders and leader Hassan Nasrallah.
As for Russiaʼs support, it has been helping President Bashar al-Assad since 2011. Russia sent weapons to the country that the Syrian army was accumulating, and also maintained its own military bases with weapons there. In 2015, the Russians began fighting in Syria together with Hezbollah fighters. Videos and photos were distributed on social networks in which Syrian opposition fighters allegedly captured Russian military equipment, including machine guns and tanks.
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