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Russian generals escalate attacks on civilian areas in Syria
As their battlefield fortunes decline, Russian generals, alongside their Syrian counterparts, have resumed a brutal tactic aimed at terrorizing civilians in Syria’s Idlib province.
A series of recent airstrikes, conducted by Russian Air Force and Assad regime warplanes, targeted residential areas in Idlib city, escalating civilian suffering as military defeats pile up.
The renewed attacks come as Syrian forces, directed by Russian military advisors, suffered considerable losses in the face of a large-scale counteroffensive by Syrian rebels near Aleppo. The military setbacks have forced regime forces to retreat, and in response, Russian-led forces have resorted to an all-too-familiar tactic: targeting civilian infrastructure in an apparent effort to demoralize and intimidate.
Even some of Russia’s own military bloggers have openly criticized the air campaign. Voennyi Osvedomitel, a prominent Russian military commentator, voiced disapproval of the strategy used by Russian air forces in Syria, suggesting that airstrikes are being misdirected.
“One of the key problems right now is that airstrikes are not targeting the advancing rebel units on the frontline but rather pre-identified targets in the rear,” wrote Voennyi Osvedomitel. “After nine years of being involved in this campaign, unfortunately, the Russian Aerospace Forces have not moved far from their original tactics and the weapons they employ,” he added.
Pro-Kremlin military Telegram channels such as Rusich and Rybar, which have a combined following of over a million users, also took a rare critical stance on the Russian and Syrian regimes’ tactics. “The success of the militants is largely due to the failure of government policies in Syria and the fact that the Syrian army has devolved into even greater cowardly degenerates than before,” one post read.
These channels, known to be aligned with Russian intelligence services, are often used as unofficial mouthpieces to sway public sentiment. Their criticism underscores the frustration within even pro-Russian circles regarding Moscow’s handling of the situation in Syria.
The attacks on civilian areas, which are being framed as targeting rebel “headquarters” or logistical bases, have added to a growing sense of anger and despair among those caught in the crossfire.
“In Russian military circles, there is even a slang term—’bombed-out ISIS headquarters’—used sarcastically to refer to how official statements consistently claim successful strikes against high-value military targets, only for the actual result to be a destroyed hospital, school, or civilian home,” a military analyst commented.
The escalating violence in Idlib, fueled by desperate measures from both Russian and Syrian forces, has yet again put innocent lives in peril.
(DEFENCE BLOG)