Putin Says Russian Hospital in Aleppo Bombed Deliberately, Regrets Weak Reactions by International Organizations

MOSCOW-  Very few human rights defenders raised their voices to condemn the bombing of a Russian makeshift hospital in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the ceremony of awarding human rights activists and charity providers, according to Itar Tass.

“The hospital was attacked deliberately,” the president noted. “Very few human rights defenders raised their voices in this connection.”

“It is a good thing that one of our good doers [doctor Elizaveta Glinka] has reminded us all about it here in Kremlin,” Putin added commenting on the human rights activist’s statement in which she reminded of the death of two Russian nurses.

 The president thanked Glinka for that saying that “they were in the army but they were on a humanitarian mission helping people who had no access to medical assistance for several years.”

Putin pointed out that “when you hear of our award winners’ activities, you feel a lump rise in your throat and tears come to your eyes.”

“A person should have a very kind and generous soul to do it all, see it all, risk his or her own life and never stop,” he noted.

The Russian leader also said that apart from social rights, political rights and freedoms of the country’s citizens were also important.

“This is a sphere of activity that means a lot for the state and the society because it can help make our country stronger, more civilized and unified,” the head of state said. “The citizens should feel that they live in a society which responds to their demands. People like our award winners help achieve this goal in the best possible way.”

Commenting on the recent shelling of a Russian mobile hospital in Aleppo, Syria that killed two Russian medics, President Putin said Moscow “will never accept” the absence of reaction from international organizations to the deaths.

“It is obvious to everybody that our medics came [to Syria] to resolve humanitarian issues only. They came there not to take part in the military action, but to help people, civilian population in particular,” Putin stressed.

Yet according to Russia’s president, Moscow “has seen no assessment of what happened from any international organization.”

According to Putin, the absence of international reaction “triggers some thoughts about how objective the coverage of some our partners is on what is happening [in Syria].”

H.M