Russia: Massacre of Alawites in Syria is equivalent to Rwandan genocide.
According to Reuters, Russia strongly criticized the Syrian regime in the Golan Heights in Syria in a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council for increasing sectarian violence and the presence of foreign fighters. This is while Moscow is trying to maintain two key military bases in Syria.
Accordingly, Russia strongly criticized the Syrian regime in the Golan Heights in a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council for increasing sectarian violence and the risk of the growth of terrorists in Syria. Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the Russian representative at the meeting compared the sectarian killings of Alawites to the Rwandan genocide.
Moscow’s harsh criticism comes as Russia is trying to maintain two key military bases in Syria’s coastal regions. These areas are where hundreds of members of the Alawite minority were killed last week.
The recent violence began after an attack on the new Syrian government security forces on March 6. The attack was attributed to groups loyal to former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who is an Alawite. The attack prompted groups linked to the new government to carry out widespread killings of Alawites in several provinces.
The Kremlin, which supported Assad before his overthrow and has remained in contact with him since he fled to Russia last December, called for Syrian unity on Tuesday and said it was in contact with other countries on the issue. But the Russian envoy’s remarks at a closed-door Security Council meeting on Monday, held at the joint request of Russia and the United States, were much harsher, and reflected Moscow’s strategy to regain influence in the Syrian process.
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, compared the sectarian and ethnic killings in Syria to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, two sources familiar with the matter said. At that time, Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred by Hutu extremists led by the Rwandan army and Interahamwe militias. “No one has stopped the killings in Syria,” Nebenzia told the Security Council.
“Moscow is seeking to maintain its influence in Syria and does not want to undermine its position by publicly criticizing the new government,” said Anna Borshevskaya, a Russia expert at the Washington Institute. “Russia also wants to be seen as a great power alongside the United States and solve crises together. Therefore, private cooperation with the United States in this matter gives them additional advantages,” she added.