The recent launch of the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces combat operations against the so-called Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Syria has regrettably become a pretext for unfolding an irresponsible and aggressive anti-Russian propaganda campaign, full of bias, myths and, at times, outright lies. Let us try and look at what is true and what is not.
Unfortunately, for many years now,Russia has been very familiar with thephenomenon of international terrorism. In recent years, just like many other nations on the planet, our country has become the target of some of the most brutal and deadly terrorist attacks.
Therefore it comes as no surprise that the issue of fighting terrorism quickly became, and to this day remains, one of the top priorities of Russia’s internal and foreign policy.
The decision to launch air strikes against terrorists in Syria was taken following an official request of the Syrian Arab Republic’s legitimate government and is aimed solely at the elimination of a terrorist hotbed in this country. But the main goal remains the same – facilitating a political settlement in this country under the auspices of the United Nations, as provided for by the Geneva communiqué of June 30, 2012. It must be stressed that all Russia’s actions in Syria fully comply with the UN Charter and cornerstone principles of international law.
This is where a major difference with the military actions of all other countries in Syria becomes evident – they are acting unlawfully because there is neither a UN Security Council resolution on these operations nor an official request from the Syrian authorities. Moreover, the US-led coalition forces’ operation in Syria has proved to be ineffective – for some reason after a year of air strikes the number of terrorists has only grown, as has the number of crimes and their scale.
Before one even knew the air strikes began, the Western media readily came up with a whole bunch of various myths.
All Russia’s actions in Syria fully comply with the UN Charter and cornerstone principles of international law
One of them is that instead of ISIS Russia is attacking ‘moderate opposition’ or even ‘killing civilians, including children’. These reports are usually attributed to unnamed sources in government agencies in a number of countries. It is difficult to think of inventions that would be further from the truth.
The Russian air force in Syria is only fighting international terrorists, members of international terror organisations and those who are aiding and abetting them. All steps that are being taken are not spontaneous action, but the implementation of plans prepared in advance and the result of preliminary work, including long-term intelligence gathering and analysis. It may be recalled that the Russian Ministry of Defence regularly provides comprehensive information about the course of its military operations and the targets that are hit.
Those who are not terrorists, who do not collaborate or coordinate their actions with terrorist organisations, have nothing to fear. On the contrary, Russia – and we have repeatedly said this via various agencies and on different levels – invites all of them to work together.
It must also be mentioned that Russia asked its Western partners for information on the targets which they think should or should not be attacked, but received no answer as they said they were not prepared to work at that level.
Why do the US and its allies refuse to cooperate with us and with the Syrian army in the fight against terror? The questionstill stands.
Another myth is that Russia is planning a ground operation in Syria.
Russian top officials including the President and the defence and foreign ministers have repeatedly stated that the use of Russia’s armed forces in ground operations in Syria is out of the question. Instead, we are coordinating our actions with the Syrian army, which is fighting ISIS on the ground.
Recent meetings held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly have shown that many countries support Russia’s actions. This is understandable, as no one is enthusiastic about the spread of an extremist ‘caliphate’, which does not recognise international law, state borders or modern civilisation’s values. Neither Russia, nor Europe or countries on other continents can nowadays feel secure from this threat.
We firmly believe that the fight against terrorism must be pursued on the universally-recognised basis of international law and with the UN Security Council playing a key role. That is why we are calling for thecreation of a wide anti-terrorist front, which could unite all those fighting ISIS and other terror groups and help stop further escalation of the Syrian crisis.
Russia remains open to cooperation.
Mr Vladimir Malygin is the Russian Ambassador to Malta.