By Al-Fassel | 2024-12-20

While the US-led international coalition fought to oust the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) from Syria and keep it from regrouping, Russian forces slaughtered Syrian civilians, right up until the fall of the Syrian regime.

Russian forces had propped up Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime since 2015 to serve the Kremlin's economic and military interests, before finally evacuating him to Moscow on December 8.

The Kremlin also claimed affiliated "private security companies" were in Syria to fight ISIS. But in sharp contrast to the US-led operation, they were there to protect Russia's economic interests and preserve its access to key resources.

Russian operations in support of the Syrian regime drew international rebuke for their indiscriminate targeting of civilians, right up until the fall of the regime.

On December 7, Russian and Syrian regime air strikes and artillery shelling killed at least seven civilians near Homs, AFP reported.

A day earlier, "Russian air strikes and Syria air raids and shelling killed 20 people near Homs city, including five people from the same family," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

In a December 2 statement, European Union foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni condemned "the airstrikes by Russia on densely populated areas and its continued support to the al-Assad regime's repression."

Legacy of violence

Russian air strikes on opposition-controlled areas routinely targeted hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure.

Russian and regime forces engaged in a "disturbing pattern of deliberate targeting" of displacement camps, per a July 2023 report by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre.

Russian generals in Syria gained a reputation for brutality, as did the mercenary Wagner Group, which was caught on video in 2017 beheading a Syrian and breaking his legs with a sledgehammer.

A particularly pernicious Russian tactic dubbed "double-tap strikes" targeted civil defense workers (White Helmets) as they responded to the scene of air strikes, hitting them as they pulled casualties out of the rubble.

The White Helmets responded October 17 after Russian strikes on "a sawmill, a furniture workshop and an olive presser" in Idlib province killed 10 civilians, including a child, the Observatory said.

More than 30 were wounded in the strike, among them 14 children.

Russian forces ran over a woman in al-Hasakeh province on August 29 and fired live bullets and tear gas at local residents who were protesting as the Russians conducted a military patrol, local sources said.

US and international coalition forces in Syria meanwhile kept steady pressure on ISIS, taking out the group's key leaders in a series of operations while minimizing the risk to civilian lives.