Syrians and Ukrainians Unite Under the SUN

"From our experiences in Syria, we might be among those most able to understand the pain of the people of Ukraine."

"Syrians have lived the shelling, killing and displacement brought on them by Russian forces."

"The time and place have changed,but the victim is the same -- civilians -- and the killer is the same -- the Russian regime."

"If Putin was held accountable for his crimes in Ukraine, this means that he will be held accountable for his crimes in Syria as well."

"But if Putin gets away with it, then the next crime will only be a matter of time."

Raed al-Saleh, head, Syria Civil Defence Force/White Helmets 

Civil defense workers known as the White Helmets carry children after airstrikes hit a school housing a number of displaced people, in the western part of the southern Daraa province of Syria, on June 14, 2017. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

 

The White Helmet group, volunteer Syrians who risked their lives rushing to the scenes of bombed out buildings in Syria when the Syrian and Russian air forces pursued a joint campaign of mass murder and demoralization of the Syrian Sunni opposition against the Alawite regime of Bashar al-Assad -- shoving away all normal scruples of international rules to avoid civilian infrastructure during times of conflict -- targeting hospitals, bread lines, schools and medical clinics are now watching a replay in Ukraine of what they suffered in Syria.

Their experience of the lethal hardships they faced as targets for Syrian rage that found it offensive they would rescue people from bombed-out buildings and dig into the rubble to release people being crushed to death, rushing them to medical care in a world where survival was uppermost in everyone's mind as barrel bombs fell around the civilian population, and as chemical weapons were rained down on them requiring urgent care to avoid death of children for whose lives the regime was unconcerned as it committed war crimes against its own.

Many of the White Helmet members not only express their empathy for the plight of Ukrainians being mortally bludgeoned by the Russian military at the Kremlin's decree, but prepare to offer practical help born of their familiarity of the deadly techniques being utilized. The commander of the Russian forces in Syria in 2015 has now been appointed to lead the Russian ground forces in Ukraine. His mission is to correct an attack plan that has to the present failed miserably for Russia, as Ukraine has fought back wreaking lethal damage to Russian troops and equipment.

 

In this photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Syrian White Helmet civil defense workers carry a victim from destroyed houses hit by Russian airstrikes, in Maaret Musreen village, in Idlib province, Syria, March 5, 2020. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

 

General Alexander Dvornikov, 60, proved his inhumane mettle in Syria and is now prepared to continue to  unleash his brand of warfare in Ukraine, as an "old school" general, as a "blood and soil nationalist", trained in the military doctrines of the Soviet era that never hesitated to target civilians as an upper-hand methodology. He had been responsible for launching over 9,000 combat flights and bombing raids in Syria, targeting hospitals, schools, bread lines and various elements of civil life.

Ukraine has, even before this new assignment for this Soviet veteran, become accustomed to this type of strategy, set to intensify as Russian troops move en masse to the Donbas region. "This commander is a war criminal", Syrian army defector Lt.Col.Fares al-Bayoush asserted from haven in Turkey. The "Butcher of Syria" is prepared to live up to his hard-earned reputation in this new assignment to render unto Ukraine what Syria had suffered in his campaign there.

A coalition named the Syria Ukraine Network (SUN) has been formed by Syrian and Ukrainian organizations. Senior fellow Olga Lautman, of the Center for European Policy Analysis has connected Syrian groups from war crime experts to the White Helmets, to Ukrainian organizations on the ground in Ukraine, enabling Syrians to advise and teach their hard-earned best practices in dealing with Russian Forces to Ukrainians under Russian fire. 

 

Syrian doctors have travelled to Ukraine, and from Idlib MDs and nurses at the Academy of Health Sciences train their Ukrainian counterparts through online the production of video tutorials. Following reports that Mariupol had suffered a chemical attack, Ukrainians sought out advice from SUN; "They want to benefit from our experience", explained the Idlib Academy's president, Abdullah Abdulaziz Alhaji. 

Members of the White Helmets film an instructive video intended for Ukrainian rescuers, in the war-ravaged Syrian town of Ariha in the rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, on March 16, 2022. Photo by Omar OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images