Credit:  Gary Raynaldo /  Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia on “Reports over Alleged Attacks on Healthcare in North-West Syria” at press conference at New York UN world headquarters Sep. 16, 2019, with a slide of military reconnaissance showing a public health facility. 

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –  NEW YORK –  “Deliberate manipulation of information has become one of the most important weapons of this (Syria) war, especially at its current stage when terrorists are on the brink of defeat.”  Russia’s  Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia proclaimed that at a press conference at UN world headquarters Monday addressing  “Reports over Alleged Attacks on Healthcare in North-West Syria”.   Ambassador Nebenzia  said he called for the press conference preceded by his  briefing to speak on numerous allegations of bombings of medical and other civilian facilities in Idlib region of North-West Syria. 

‘Syrians trapped by Assad’s ruthless Russian-backed barrage in Idlib beg for help’, CBS News reported.‘The regime has attacked hospitals, as well as schools, markets and bakeries. For those who survive the strikes, the destruction of such vital infrastructure makes life unlivable — and that’s the whole point. CBS News visited one of the few remaining hospitals, now a last resort for about half a million people. The Syrian regime and its Russian backers have pushed the local population to breaking point.’ –CBS News.   UN officials have alleged that Syria and Russia are likely to be deliberately targeting civilian facilities such as schools and hospitals in the opposition-held province of Idlib. More than 23 hospitals have been hit by attacks since Russia-backed Syrian forces launched an offensive in the rebel-controlled Idlib region in late April, according to the UN.

Meanwhile,  Ambassador Nebenzia cautioned reporters to be wary of such reports.

“It is most important, that there is no UN presence in Idlib, which means that the information about what is happening in Idlib comes from the so called ‘trustworthy sources’ within Idlib that are traditionally not revealed due to ‘security reasons’. We have witnesses similar situations in Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta.”

–Russia’s  Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia

“Well, we never trust ‘unidentified sources’, and when we use our own means to trace these sources of information, the result is always the same – the claims came from the people, who are connected to listed terrorist groups like the notorious “White Helmets”,  Ambassador Nebenzia told reporters at Monday’s press conference.  “Nobody denies that there are also civilians in Idlib, and that they live in dire conditions, some of them going through second or even third round of relocation. However, there is no other way to resolve their suffering, than to liberate this area from jihadists, who simply hold civilians as a shield to protect their own positions.”

DIPLOMATIC TIMES Video / Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia on “terrorists groups in North Syria and reports of attacks on civilian healthcare facilities. 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia

“Today I would like to demonstrate to you a few examples from a large batch of data that we gathered in Idlib in response to those allegations. As they were made in public, we will respond in the same way. First is the so-called deconfliction system, or more correctly, deconfliction arrangement, since it is an informal setting. It exists between the UN and parties in Syria, whereby the UN provides the location of objects that are reported to be civilian in order to make sure that they are protected in the course of military activities. We started this practice back in 2014, and it proved to serve well when the reports came directly from the area where the UN staff or its partner organizations were present and operating. Back then, the mechanism was really useful.  Now let us move to 2019. Idlib. Northern Syria. Like I said, the UN is not present on the ground there. It is a fact that has been reconfirmed by our UN friends many times. So the bulk of information they report comes directly from informants that I referred to before. This may also explain the discrepancies in numbers reported by the UN. We constantly find them in publications specifically on figures regarding IDPs and informal settings in Idlib. We reflected it to our UN colleagues and hope they will do their homework. For example, in one publication they spoke about 400,000 IDPs in Idlib, whether in another one – about 700,000 people, which makes a huge discrepancy.” Ambassador Nebenzia

“Now, back to deconfliction. Under the arrangement they report to the UN that under coordinates X and Y they have a 100% civilian facility and ask the UN to make sure it is not hit by warring sides. The UN, in turn, shares this information with the parties, acting as a ‘mailbox’ between the sides. So when you hear that this or that object was deconflicted – that’s done under such a procedure.”

He claimed the Russian military takes all the necessary precautions before every operation it is planning.

The ambassador also addressed the crisis in the Gulf with the  weekend attack on  Saudi Arabian oil fields, and President Trump declaring the U.S. is “locked and loaded” following reports of Iran involvement. 

“On “locked and loaded”, of course, we are very concerned that incidents similar to these may provoke a larger conflict in the Gulf. The Gulf and the surrounding area of the Middle East have enough problems besides this, and the major conflict in the Gulf would be definitely a disaster. We would want to avoid it at any cost and calling all our partners to demonstrate restrain.” – Russian ambassador Nebenzia.