Moscow Suggests UN Supports Disinformation Campaign About White Helmets Role In Syria

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Moscow Suggests UN Supports Disinformation Campaign About White Helmets Role in Syria

The United Nations is backing the western media outlets disinformation campaign showing the White Helmets group, operating in Syria, as humanitarian workers by supporting their evacuation amid the humanitarian disaster in the war-torn country, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Wednesday.

KALININGRAD (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2018) The United Nations is backing the western media outlets disinformation campaign showing the White Helmets group, operating in Syria, as humanitarian workers by supporting their evacuation amid the humanitarian disaster in the war-torn country, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Wednesday.

In late July, over 400 White Helmets' activists and their families were evacuated from Syria at the request of Canada, European countries, and the United States amid a full-scale offensive by Syrian government troops against militants and terrorists in countrys southwestern regions. Zakharova told a news briefing that the Russian Foreign Ministry noted reports about the role of the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR in the evacuation of the White Helmets from Syria.

"By this, the United Nations continues to support the disinformation campaign waged by western media outlets and officials, depicting the White Helmets as though they are real fearless humanitarian workers," Zakharova added.

The diplomat suggested that the White Helmets were being withdrawn from Syria, where humanitarian workers were needed, because they had only been involved in staging fake stories about the alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians by the Syrian government.

White Helmets is a Syrian humanitarian organization that claims to have saved tens of thousands of lives. The activists of the organization are often depicting saving people from under debris and providing first aid to civilians.

Notably, the group is behind the high-profile video showing children receiving medical aid after the alleged chemical attack in the city of Duma in April.

Syrian authorities have said that the lifesaving procedures shown in the videos published by the White Helmets were fake and staged. Moscow called the activities of the White Helmets a part of a defamation campaign against Syrian authorities.

Moreover, both Moscow and Damascus said that the White Helmets had ties with terrorists and extremists. The group's head, Raed Saleh, said earlier in August that the White Helmets were not linked to any terror organization.