Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoi, head of Operations in the General Staff, announced that the Russian command decided on the deployment in Syrian territory of a humanitarian operation on the grounds that the aid provided by NGOs basically ends up in the hands of extremist groups.
The first shipment of about 30 tons of food arrived on Friday in the city of Deir ez-Zor, besieged by the forces of the ISIL, said Rudskoi.
He said that the cargo provided by Russia and Syria, half for each side, was transported at night in an Il-76 plane of the Ministry of Defense.
The officer stated on Friday that the aid handed by NGOs to areas controlled by extremists serves as supplies to radical armed groups.
He also denounced that attempts were made to supply weapons, ammunition and evacuation of wounded combatants under the cover of humanitarian caravans.
Therefore they took the decision to deploy in Syria a humanitarian operation by the Armed Forces of Russia, emphasized Rudskoi.
