2024-12-09 13:35 update: 2024-12-09, 13:37
Photo PAP/Leszek Szymański
The fall of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is Russia's defeat, Poland's deputy defence minister said.
In the latest stage of the civil war ongoing in Syria since 2011, forces of anti-regime rebels, led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), declared on Sunday morning that they had captured the Syrian capital of Damascus and announced that the 24-year authoritarian rule of Assad had been overthrown. The Syrian dictator, who had crushed all forms of dissent and imprisoned thousands of people, had been supported in this by Russia, Iran and Tehran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah. He reportedly fled Damascus on Sunday for Russia.
Commenting on the news, Cezary Tomczyk, a deputy minister of national defence told Polish radio on Monday: "This is Russia's defeat and another flashpoint in the world that is being closely watched. This is also yet another proof that Russia is a country in this axis of evil that is doing everything to incite countries against the West in order to cause global turmoil."
He said that, guided by its superpower ambitions, Russia is involved in many regions of the world, but its capabilities do not match these aspirations, except for its nuclear potential.
As a result, according to Tomczyk, Russia is forced to disperse its armed forces and limit its involvement in other areas, focusing most of its attention on the Russian-Ukrainian front.
At the same time, he said that the Ministry of National Defence is in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is prepared for the possible need to evacuate Polish citizens from Syria. (PAP)
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