The Russian reconciliation center in Syria said last week it had received 144 metric tons of food, drinking water and other essentials to provide aid to besieged areas. A share of the humanitarian assistance reached the nearly 4,000 residents of Harasta northeast of Damascus, whose pre-war population totaled 60,000.
"We are grateful to Russia, first it brought the aid to Hmeymim then here. The Red Cross, meanwhile, cannot get to us despite the fact that we are a stone’s throw from Damascus," Abdel Alhay Kbes said.
Kbes lamented the lack of gas, electricity and other impediments to the return of the local population, including militant presence in central neighborhoods.
"We are in a blockade," he noted, asserting that a successful disarmament campaign hinged on the government’s guarantee to provide total security.
A number of officials took part in handing out the Russian-Syrian humanitarian cargo, including Damascus province deputy governor Rateb Adas, who pledged to make every effort to prevent terrorists from gaining access to the city and to establish local infrastructure.
