In Ukraine, Putin applying same tactics as in Syria’s Aleppo - Turkish diplomat
Russian troops in Ukraine are using the tactics previously applied in Aleppo, Syria, including strikes on civilian targets and hindering humanitarian and evacuation efforts.
That's according to a former Turkish ambassador to Moscow, Aydin Adnan Sezgin, quoted by Milliyet, Ukrinform reports.
"Currently, there is a trend of attacks being observed in Ukraine, similar to that in Syria. The Russian army fires indiscriminately. There are no military facilities in the places of missile strikes and aerial bombardment, these are all residential neighborhoods," Sezgin said.
According to him, Putin is also using the Aleppo tactic when seizing cities. In particular, it is about announcing security guarantees for civilians, while in practice there’s no such thing.
"When people seek to flee the city for fear of bombing, he says let's open a humanitarian corridor. When the humanitarian corridor is opened, he doesn’t allow it to operate at the time that’s been agreed and coordinated, so it is also being bombed," said the former ambassador.
He also points to similarities between Russia's actions in Chechnya, when the civilian population was used as a human shield.
"This is a purely psychological propaganda war. Ukraine isn’t attacking, it’s defending its land and citizens. What would Zelensky achieve by killing his own citizens, civilians? Nothing, so it's a lie. Russia has previously made such allegations in Chechnya. They repeated the same thing in Syria, so it’s total lies. Russia has already been condemned by the entire international community," Sezgin said.
The former Turkish ambassador to Russia believes that the longer the war lasts, the more it "works" against Putin, in particular because his entourage will be putting pressure on him to end the war, and Putin is aware of this.
As reported, Russian President Putin declared war on Ukraine on February 24, launching a large-scale invasion. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying infrastructure and residential areas of Ukrainian cities and towns, using artillery, multiple rocket launchers, and ballistic missiles.
The United States, the European Union, and other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia as an aggressor, whose international isolation is growing by the day.
The International Criminal Court has begun documenting and investigating Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.
Photo from mansetaydin.com