A number of local media outlets and social media accounts in Syria have been posting videos of residents pelting Russian troops with stones on Wednesday, November 6.
Videos and pictures show angry residents of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab), Aleppo Governorate, Syria, throwing large stones at several convoys of Russian vehicles. In one scene, several dozen civilians managed to stop two Russian armoured vehicles and some of them climbed onto one of the cars with Russian military police insignia, a video released by local news outlet Anha showed.
All this comes while resentment of Russia has been steadily growing in Syria. Just before the incident, on November 2, a Russian air strike killed six civilians including a child in the embattled opposition bastion of Idlib in northwestern Syria, the same province, where Kobani is located.Syrian regime troops entered Kobani on Wednesday night, as the Turkish-led forces were poised to take the strategically important border town and American troops left the area.
According to real-time data as of November 7, 2019, approximately 3,000 Russian service personnel are deployed in Syria, at facilities like Tartus and the Khmeimim air base.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights recently slammed Russia for committing “hundreds of war crimes” during its military operations in Syria since 2015. Russian military operations have resulted in more than 6,500 civilians’ deaths, the human rights group says in its 40-page report issued September 30. There is also new evidence that Russian warplanes deliberately bombed hospitals in Syria to undermine the Syrian opposition.
Russia’s ground operation spreading and necessity to support civil order and security on territories under their control trigger increasing risks for Russian troops.
No doubt that Russian troops in the absence of friendly forces in the territories under opposition control will pursue a tough policy of suppressing resistance. This will become an additional factor in rising tensions in the area where the Russian troops are located. The risks of terrorist acts against Russian forces in Syria will continue to grow, and the transition of the operation to the ground to ensure security and provide control of settlements will lead to an increase in losses among the Russian troops.
