Together with servicemen of the Russian army, food and medical assistance arrived in Raqqa, which for three years has been serving as the “capital” for militants of the Islamic State*, destroyed by the blows of Western coalition.
Russian military entered for the first time the ancient Syrian city of Raqqa, which for several years was the “capital” of the Islamic State*. The aim is to distribute humanitarian aid to its residents.
A humanitarian catastrophe erupted in Raqqa after airstrikes and bombings of Western coalition led by the United States almost completely destroyed the city’s infrastructure. According to the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the warring parties (CPVS), transmitted by RIA Novosti, thousands of civilians in Raqqa became victims of indiscriminate air and artillery attacks.
To this day, in Racca, debris from houses that collapsed as a result of hits has not yet been cleared, the area has not been cleared, there is not enough clean water, medicine and food. Residents of Raqqa received from the Russian military two thousand food sets, and military doctors from Russia provide highly qualified assistance to the townspeople.
The city of “one thousand and one nights”
The city of Raqqa under the name Nikefory was founded in 244 BC by the former bodyguard and commander (diadoch) of Alexander the Great, Seleucus Nikator, who, after the death of his patron and wars with other diadochos, created the Seleucid state. In 796, the famous Caliph Harun al-Rashid, known from the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights, made Er-Raqqu captured by Arabs from Romans (Byzantines).
It was previously reported that militants of the Islamic State* captured the ancient Syrian city of Raqqa, which is the center of the province of the same name, in the spring of 2013, after which at least 250 thousand inhabitants fled from there. In 2014, Raqqa was proclaimed the capital of the ISIS*, becoming the stronghold of militants.
In October 2017, after massive airstrikes and bombardments of Western coalition, militant formations of the Syrian Democratic Forces left ISIS abandoned by its militants. Syrian Foreign Ministry called the actions of theWestern coalition during the liberation of Raqqa as “genocide”.
*-terrorist organization banned in Russia.