After Liberation: Syrian Experts to Estimate Damage to Palmyra Next Week

Syrian experts will be able to make first assessments of damage caused by Daesh terrorists to the historic city of Palmyra already next week, which will pave the way for the arrival of international experts at the site, Russia's envoy to UNESCO Eleonora Mitrofanova said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Syrian army confirmed Sunday that it had liberated the historic city of Palmyra from Daesh terrorist group with support of national aviation and Russian Aerospace Forces.

"The director of the Syrian institute of cultural heritage and historic monuments will arrive already next week. The [Syrians] are good specialists and know these places perfectly well and they monitored everything that was happening there. That is why the Syrian will make first sketches of this situation," Mitrofanova said in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV broadcaster, adding that international experts will arrive after that to discuss issues related to the reconstruction works.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope that international experts would be able to start working on preservation and reconstruction of Palmyra right after the end of demining operations.

Palmyra and its historic ruins have been under Daesh control since May 2015. The terrorist group has since destroyed part of the ruins, which are a designated UNESCO World Heritage site.