Russia Sends Military Unit to Syria

March 20, 2012 from ABC News (Australia)

Russia's Interfax news agency reports that a Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, in what some are seeing as a show of support for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has called for a daily ceasefire between government forces and rebels to allow in humanitarian aid and let injured people leave.

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Syria

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, i... Explore this topic

Russia

Russia or, also officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania an... Explore this topic

Syrian Civil War

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were pa... Explore this topic

Bashar al-Assad

Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Syrian-led branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. He has served as President since 2000, when he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for 30 years prior to his death. Al-Assa... Explore this topic

Russia-Syria relations

Russia–Syria relations refers to the bilateral relationship between the two countries, Russia and Syria. Russia has an embassy in Damascus and had a consulate in Aleppo, since closed down. Syria has an embassy in Moscow. Russia enjoys a historically strong, stable, and friendl... Explore this topic

Sergei Lavrov

Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov is a Russian diplomat who has been the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. His nomination to the Foreign Minister's office was approved by two Russian presidents, in 2008 by Dmitry Medvedev and in 2012 by Vladimir Putin. Prior to that, Lavrov was a... Explore this topic

Ban Ki-moon

Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before becoming Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic servic... Explore this topic

Humanitarian aid

Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintai... Explore this topic

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are the military services of Russia, established after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992, Boris Yeltsin signed a presidential decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces tro... Explore this topic

Civilian casualties

Civilian casualties is a military term describing civilian or non-combatant persons killed, injured, or imprisoned by military action. The description of civilian casualties includes any form of military action regardless of whether civilians were targeted directly. This diffe... Explore this topic

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