“This is a plus for Ukraine”: international journalist tells what is happening in Syria

“This is a plus for Ukraine”: international journalist told what is happening in Syria Natalia Belzetskaya

Syrian rebels seized power and overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad. He fled to Russia, and the country is going through a difficult period of demilitarization and the formation of a new government.

International journalist Alexei Burlakov told Channel 24 that a Turkish delegation arrived in Damascus. And Israel continues to strike military targets throughout Syria.

What's Happening in Syria

Israel is trying to destroy places where Russian equipment remains. IDF troops control the so-called “gray zone” between the Dutch Heights, which some consider occupied by Israel, and the Syrian border. Assad's men were given time to voluntarily surrender their weapons.

Most of the Israeli population does not yet understand who will lead Syria. Everyone knows about the mood of Turkish President Recep Erdogan regarding Israel, as well as the position of Iran, so the Israelis are afraid.

They do not want to allow weapons to remain in Syria. And this is a plus for Ukraine, because the Syrians fought mainly with Soviet weapons, which were supplied to them by Russia, and which could then end up in Ukraine, – said Alexey Burlakov.

Iran is also “waking up”. It understands that Israel is now strengthening its positions in Syria and creating a buffer zone there. In fact, Israeli troops occupy the “gray zone”, which is 20-25 kilometers from Damascus.

What to expect next

The fate of the Russian bases and the military personnel who serviced them remains unknown. However, it is known for sure that Israel is bombing them. Now the country wants to ensure calm in the north of Israel so that people can return there to live without fear of shelling from Hezbollah or the groups that will take power in Syria.

No one yet knows who will be in power, but local military experts say that most likely a new civil war will begin there, perhaps not on the same scale as in 2015, but something similar, the international journalist added.

The east and south of Israel's defenses are now on full combat alert and are expecting an Iranian strike. Nobody knows how and when it will happen and whether it will happen at all, but the population and reservists are being mobilized, the defense is being strengthened.

There are also pro-Turkish formations. They do not have full power, because Turkey has not yet managed to reach an agreement with the rebels. However, it is unlikely that they will want to negotiate with the Turks, because on the contrary, they want to get rid of this dependence.

Syria as a territory looks quite convenient to start new military actions. There will be a clarification of relations at least between regional states such as Türkiye, Iran, Israel. We must not forget about Hezbollah and the Gaza Strip, noted Alexey Burlakov.

How the war in Syria will affect Ukraine

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry hoped that if we establish contact with the temporary government in Syria, then perhaps they will be able to share with us the Soviet or Russian weapons that they had left.

However, this is quite dangerous, so Israel is preemptively destroying the remaining stockpiles so that no one can use them. After all, if we continue to wait to see who will receive the weapons, we can expect diplomatic actions from Russia, whose positions in Syria remain quite strong.

Russia can win over the rebels to its side, but in fact there are not many weapons left in Syria to strengthen the Russian group. Most of the Russian crews have already left, the journalist emphasized.

He added that Israel is doing well by destroying weapons so that they do not even potentially fall into the hands of Russia, since it is possible that the rebels will support the aggressor country.

Recall that after seizing power, the Syrian opposition burned the grave of Assad's father in his hometown. His wife was also buried there.

In Russia, Assad is under the personal guarantees of Vladimir Putin. The Russians covered the dictator's plane, which took off from the capital Damascus, and then disappeared from radar.