Moscow sends 2 planes to pick up Russians hit by Syrian war

Published time: January 21, 2013 17:42
Edited time: January 22, 2013 18:00
The Russian Emergencies Ministry's Il-76 transport plane (RIA Novosti / Alexander Utkin)

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has sent two planes to the Lebanese capital to pick up those Russians affected by the ongoing Syrian conflict. Most of about 100 Russians who wanted to leave Syria have already headed for Beirut.

76 Russian citizens have already crossed the Lebanese-Syrian border and received consular assistance. They include Russian women married to Syrians, their children, and husbands with Russian citizenship.

There are 81 people leaving for Russia on Tuesday of about 100 people in total, officials said.

This mission is aimed at helping those Russian citizens affected by the Syrian conflict and it has nothing to do with evacuation, the Russian embassy in Damascus stressed.

Although there are regular flights between Damascus and Moscow, “not all families, especially those who had their homes destroyed, who’ve been left without food and shelter, have the means to get to their home country,” a diplomatic source told Interfax.

Two planes, an Il-76 and a Yak-42, each able to carry up to 120 passengers were dispatched for Beirut on Tuesday. The crews included medics and psychologists.

Earlier media reported that Russia was considering using the navy to evacuate its citizens from Syria. This appeared to be confirmed when several warships were sent to the Mediterranean Sea. But the Foreign Ministry denied the speculation, saying the deployment was for scheduled military drills.

In December a member of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, a newly formed opposition body recognized by the West, called Russian citizens in Syria ‘legitimate targets.’

According to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov there are thousands of Russian citizens living in Syria. Many of them are not registered with the consulate, mostly women and children from mixed marriages. Different officials estimate there are some 25,000-100,000 Russians living in the Arab country; 8,000 of them are on the consulate’s books.

Russia also has a naval base in Syria which is manned by around 50 sailors and officers. The Tartus base was founded in the 1970s during the Soviet times. Neglected in the 1990s, the base has been recently revived and now is used for repairs and refueling Russian ships in the Mediterranean.

The base has remained operational despite the bloody conflict that has been raging in Syria for the last two years. However, if the lives of those at the base are put in danger the staff will be evacuated, Russian authorities said in July.

Comments (106)

jha (unregistered) 23.01.2013 00:11

Captain Obvious (unregistered) wrote in #14

In Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya the opposition unified the people and committed them to a political architecture that did not allow dictators.  There has been no such unification or ideological statements from Syrian opposition.  The west does not see any point in supporting a revolution that does not have ideological goals.
If the opposition did come together, make such a statement, and gain majority support inside Syria then the west would fabricate reasons to intervene.---------- -------------------- --------In Tunisia...there was a deal between the Tunisian generals and secret services to scapegoat Ben Ali ...the pseudo change was orchastrated...In Egypt exactely the same thing happened with Egyptian generals and Mubarak...The nomenclatura that was running former regimes of Ben Ali and Mubarak are still there in power...The miliatry that profited from the former regimes abandoned Ben Ali and Mubarak...So did the West!Now Tunisians and Egyptians are more free to talk their mind...but the democracy stop there...and the Military and the Islamists are afraid of each other and don't trust each other....sooner or later the snake will bite its tail...In Lybia...Nato used Egypt,Qatar and the Saudis to infiltrate the Lybian population and launch the revolt...Qadhafi who came closer to the West these last years....found himself isolated and betrayed...and assassinated by the Europeans and Americans....
In Syria...Russia and China-for the time being- prevented Nato intervention and Syria will be saved only if the legitimate Syrian government can bring security and normalcy to the country...It will be difficult because the US,NATO,Saudis and Qatar axis of evil is really after  Syria....but if Syrians stay united and Russian -Chinese keep blocking Nato...there is hope for the Syrians...
Sunnis ,Shia and Christians in Lebanon and Syria are the last hope for the Middle East...Either we stop the American agenda of creating a sectarian war between Shia and Sunni across the Middle East or we are doomed...Syria must defeat the terrorists financed by Nato and the Saudis-Qataris...or the Middle East will go in flamme...

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Captain Obvious (unregistered) 22.01.2013 23:16

syrians.hate.russia wrote in #5
See the Assadi MiG shelling the university of Aleppo on you tube

******** ***************Nice piece of video evidence.  If you look, you can see the glint off jet as it pulls away. 

They bomb these kids while they are taking exams and then blame "terrorists".  eyewitness accounts say that mukhabarat secured the perimeter 15 minutes in advance and that all security personel evacuated the area just before bombing.
these were children of well connected baath and pro-assad families.  Intentionally killed.  The regime doesn't even respect their supporters enough to tell them the truth.  I wonder what other lies they have told you?

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masterbaker25 22.01.2013 23:04

Syrians Love Russia@@@@@ The FSA also called as FOREIGN SADISTIC ARMY hates russians as Russia is helping Syria to get them whipped!!!!!!! Fantastic,,,, Kill by sword, die by the sword,,, These Arab and pakistani young men, having families and children back home themselves, are willing to kill and die for $ 150 a month to put some bread on the table,,,, this is a poor excuse to join this maffia called FSA Foreign Sadistic Army...To get killed for $ 150 a month, and kill children and women like their own families they had left behind ,,, and will never see again probably as this job does not come with a return ticket to your home country but to the dust where you came from,,, Stop the killing it is wrong,,, !!!!

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