Admiral Vyacheslav Sitnik, Deputy Head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Parties in Syria, revealed that militants are preparing a new provocation against the Syrian government, with the arrival of the White Helmets to Idlib province equipped with video recording equipment.
Sputnik agency reported this evening, citing Sitnik's confirmation, that available information indicates that armed groups are preparing to carry out a provocation to accuse Syrian government forces of shelling settlements in the de-escalation zone in Idlib. Sitnik noted that activity by the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has been recorded in the settlement of Fuah in Idlib province.
Sitnik emphasized the Russian Center for Reconciliation's call for leaders of illegal armed formations to abandon armed provocations and pursue a peaceful resolution to the situation in areas under their control. He pointed out that no shelling has been recorded from the illegal armed groups controlled by Turkey in the past twenty-four hours.
For his part, the Deputy Head of the Russian White Helmets Association confirmed that a group of activists from the fake humanitarian organization White Helmets has also arrived at the incident site with professional video recording equipment. Earlier last year, Russian Foreign Intelligence Director Sergey Naryshkin stated that Western intelligence services are financially and logistically assisting the White Helmets organization in order to wage a media war against Syria.
Naryshkin clarified in a special statement to Sputnik that two years ago, claims surfaced worldwide alleging that the Syrian army and forces were responsible for using chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Douma, which was a plotted misinformation supported by Western countries. He added that investigations proved those claims by the organization regarding the use of chemical weapons to be mere fabrications, stating, "After a while, we, in cooperation with Syrian journalists through their investigations, proved that these claims and hypotheses about the use of chemical weapons were nothing but fabrications made by the Western-supported White Helmets organization."
The White Helmets organization is considered an arm of British and American intelligence, funded by British intelligence agencies and carrying out tasks by disseminating information and allegations against Syria and its army. Its founder, British intelligence officer James Le Mesurier, was killed under "mysterious circumstances" near his home in Istanbul in November 2018. The organization uses the "mask of humanitarian work" as a cover for its criminal activities, in cooperation with the "Jabhat al-Nusra" group, which controls the vast majority of Idlib province.
In turn, Yuri Zenin, a Russian Orientalist and senior researcher at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), stated that "the White Helmets operate in areas not controlled by the government army. The more successes the Syrian army achieves, the more provocations increase on their part." Discussing the future of the organization, the expert added, "The organization's authority has long been undermined. Their representation has been exposed several times, and now they have been officially warned; the statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense has put the organization in a deadlock."
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the activities of the White Helmets as part of a media campaign to tarnish the reputation of Syrian authorities, particularly holding them responsible for provocations that gave the West reasons to accuse Damascus of using chemical weapons and launching strikes against it.
