The newsletter of the Russian Reconciliation Information Center reported that three more settlements in Syria joined the truce over the past day, and the Syrian army has gained control of an additional 15.5 square kilometers of territory, which is already a lot. In already liberated areas, life is changing for the better. In this respect, the assessment on Aleppo by Marianne Gasser, the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus, is important. I can confirm that people are now coming back.
According to our estimates, 80,000 people can return to eastern Aleppo in the near future. Some locals are even returning despite the fact that their homes are heavily damaged. Many would like to return, but do not have this opportunity, because their houses are completely destroyed. People are very attached to their native land. Overall, the situation in Aleppo has now improved significantly. Meanwhile, Russian combat engineers started clearing Palmyra of mines. On Thursday, a new unit of the combined detachment of the International Mine Action Center of the Russian Armed Forces arrived in the city. It includes a total of 187 people and 32 units consisting of special equipment. Our military correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny reports the latest information from Syria.
Taiga-2, this is Rock, ready to begin the operation. Russian combat engineers are back in Palmyra. They thoroughly check every object in the historic center of the city. Including the dilapidated temples of Bel and Baalshamin, and the Roman amphitheater, where ISIS militants destroyed the facade on the streets of the ancient city. Only after this, will experts be able to assess the damage caused by the terrorists to the world heritage sites, and to understand whether it is possible to restore these priceless monuments. At the same time, engineers are clearing the residential part of Tadmor.
In Palmyra, there are two Russian words on each house: "No mines". It was written by combat engineers a little less than a year ago after the first liberation of the ancient city. Now, the notice is out of date. They add a month and a year to the phrase “No mines”. Only after Russian experts check all the streets and buildings of the city, Syrian engineers will be able to start bringing back electricity and running water, and people will return to their homes.
In total, 187 servicemen from the Russian Mine Action Center arrived in Tadmor. Yevgeny is working in Palmyra for the second time. He says that the militants have learned a lot during the year. They learned how to plant IEDs properly. They lay the tripwire in one place, and the charge — somewhere else. That is, you can trigger it in front of you, and it will explode from behind. They do the same thing on the roads. They put fresh pavement on top of it. When you dig it up, you can see the IED. Combat engineers use the most advanced equipment.
In addition to mine detectors, they have radio frequency jammers and explosive trace detectors. K-9 units lead the way. A service dog can’t be replaced by any special device. I'm cordoning off the area! Russian combat engineers have just discovered an IED, which was installed by the militants of the pseudo-caliphate. The improvised explosive device was planted in the middle of the road with the expectation that a passing car would activate it. This improvised explosive device is made in such a way that it can’t be extracted. If you move this IED, it will explode. That’s it! Move out! In the historical part of Palmyra, combat engineers don’t destroy IEDs that they find, but take them to a special test site and blow them up.
At the same time, military operations continue 15 kilometers away from the place where the Russian specialists work. During the fighting, the terrorist, Abu Hamid Asud, was liquidated. He encouraged blowing up the ancient architectural sites and took part in the destruction directly.
In general, the position of the pseudo-caliphate is rapidly deteriorating. The militants are losing control over the situation. The leaders of ISIS began to evacuate their families from Raqqa. The radicals have declared the city to be the capital of the pseudo-caliphate. We managed to meet with the wife of Islam Atabiev, nicknamed Abu Jigad. He was a Russian citizen. In ISIS, he was responsible for propaganda in Russian. Atabiev was the right-hand man of Umar Asshani, the Minister of War of ISIS, while he was alive. This is Svetlana Atabieva, the wife of the militant. Before leaving for Syria, she lived in Karachaevo-Cherkessia. Along with three children, she was evacuated by Abu Jigad from Raqqa. Svetlana lived in the territory controlled by the fanatics for three years. She talks about everyday life in the pseudo-caliphate.
In the center of the city, they hanged a corpse without a head. I saw it. They often hanged corpses there, so that people could see them and be too afraid to do anything. Atabieva says that her husband changed a lot after becoming an ISIS militant. That's what Abu Jigad said when Svetlana asked him to return home, to Russia. I cried constantly and told him repeatedly that I wanted to go home, and he said that I would go home to my mother when they take control of that area, but if she doesn't perform Salah (a Muslim prayer), we'll kill her too. And this is, perhaps, the main thing that one should know about the members of the ISIS terrorist group holding Russian passports. In Syria, they are simply preparing to attack.
