LATAKIA, November 17 (RIA Novosti) – A plane laden with medical aid supplies from Russia landed early Sunday morning in Syria’s port city Latakia.
The head of the city’s health department came out to meet the plane, bringing several dozen soldiers to unload the aid from Russia’s Health Ministry.
Russian media portal Vesti.ru reported that the plane was carrying 40 tons of medical supplies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to send pharmaceuticals, first-aid kits and other medical aid to Syria after a phone conversation with the Middle Eastern country’s president Bashar Assad last week.
Assad had described a “difficult health situation” in Syria and asked Russia for assistance, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Over 100,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since the start of a bloody civil war in Syria in March 2011, which began amid massive protests against Assad’s regime. Millions of Syrians have fled the country, and many are now living as refugees in neighboring countries.
Russia has largely been a staunch ally of the Syrian government throughout the war, sending weapons and other aid to Assad’s regime and blocking several United Nations resolutions to sanction Syria for its behavior in the conflict.
Putin played a key role in brokering a UN deal in September to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, a nonviolent agreement that staved off a possible military intervention strike by the United States.
