Syria regime asks Russia to protect eastern Damascus

Wreckages of collapsed buildings are seen after Assad Regime’s airplanes and artillery units hit Damascus, Syria on 6 January 2018 [Ammar Al-Bushy / Anadolu Agency]

Russia has received the leadership of the 3rd Armoured Division in the city of Qatifah, east of Damascus, from the Syrian regime and renamed it the Sixth Corps, local media outlets have reported.

Russian officials arrived in the area on Tuesday accompanied by regime officers and made several changes to Brigade 81, the opposition’s news outlet Enab Baladi said.

The sources added that a Russian general was appointed to the division’s headquarters and its operations room and formed Russian inspection committees for all brigades and battalions in the division.

According to sources, the Russian officers have prevented workers from wearing civilian clothing, the use of televisions and unofficial food entering the vicinity. They also introduced fixed working days and penalties for violators.

Read: UN warns of ‘shocking’ starvation in besieged Damascus outskirts

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