The UN World Food Programme has caused outrage after a tweet thanking Russia for helping Syrians ‘have a warm and healthy meal on their tables’ as Moscow prepares to use its UN veto to potentially cut off aid to rebel-held areas of Syria.
The tweet, which was posted on Sunday by the WFP’s verified Syria account, was sent to congratulate Moscow on its national holiday and tagged the Russian foreign ministry’s account.
Starvation Sieges
It was soon deleted but not before screenshots were shared by outraged Twitter users who pointed out that the Russian government’s intervention in the Syrian conflict on the side of Bashar al-Assad had killed thousands of people, while the Syrian regime had also laid siege to opposition areas.
The Russian government is also currently threatening to use its veto at the UN Security Council to stop the provision of aid to millions of people in rebel-held north-western Syria.
Kristyan Benedict, the Syria campaigns manager at Amnesty International, tweeted in response, “Which Syrians did Russia help? Oh, yea, a murderous fascist regime that has repeatedly used starvation sieges against civilian populations. Meanwhile, Russia is planning to block food deliveries to civilians in the north of Syria this July. Sick.”
Over 500,000 Syrians have been killed since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, mostly as a result of the regime and Russian bombardments of civilian areas. The regime’s tactic of besieging rebel-held areas for months on end has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of people through starvation.
Twitter user Christian Turner said in response to the WFP tweet: “How well does the west think it’s censored activists and sanitized reports of atrocities? Enough to have WFP thank Russia for supplying some food aid despite having contributed hugely to the destruction and displacement that caused the need for it.”
The “Grannies 4 Equality” Twitter account said: “This truly is unbelievable. Thanking a country that bombs humanitarian aid convoys and depots, & that plans to impose a starvation siege on North Syria in 2 weeks”.
Other accounts shared images of urban areas in Syria devastated by Russian bombardment.
Human rights groups have accused Russia of deliberately targeting hospitals, bakeries, marketplaces, and other civilian facilities in its intervention in Syria, which is now in its sixth year.
Syrian activists have often accused the United Nations and its agencies of bias towards the Assad regime and its allies in the past. A recent decision by the World Health Organisation to appoint the regime’s representatives to its executive board has also sparked widespread condemnation.
On Facebook, Mansour Omari, a Syrian journalist said that despite the tweet being deleted “this doesn’t mean that the people who tweeted and thanked [Russia] and permitted this are gone”.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
