Reports of the #WhiteHelmets being evacuated from Syria.
These are the rescuers who've been the target of one of the most concerted smear and trolling campaigns I know.
Not primarily as rescuers, but as witnesses to potential war crimes.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-mid…
The White Helmets' basic job is to rescue people from bomb sites in Syria.
They film their rescues.
Sometimes, when verified, those films provide evidence of potential war crimes, such as here (h/t @bellingcat).
bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016…
Repeatedly, the White Helmets have been witnesses to what's happening on the ground.
Here, they provided evidence of incendiaries being used in Idlib. The images of spent munitions matched images that RT broadcast, then deleted, then put up again.
bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016…
It's not just footage. This is the UN report which found that the Assad regime dropped sarin on civilians in Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017.
White Helmets (SCD, Syrian Civil Defence) provided samples, corroborated by UN witness checks.
Source: undocs.org/S/2017/567
The more they've reported, and the more the Russian military has been active in Syria, the more they've been targeted by Kremlin outlets.
Big spike during the siege of Aleppo. Another after Khan Sheikhoun.
Coincidence?
This was the first Sputnik piece on them, in August 2015.
Note the reference to "propaganda" already. It's their evidence that was the problem.
And the source? A 9/11 truther site.
Kremlin outlets on the White Helmets during the siege of Aleppo.
Note the insistence on "propaganda" again.
It's not what they did that worried the Kremlin and Assad regimes, it's what they filmed.
Here are Kremlin reactions to the Khan Sheikhoun attack and report.
Remember, the UN/OPCW investigation found the Assad regime responsible.
Reads awfully like an attempt to dismiss the witness.
This comment sums up the concern.
"All kinds of fake stories to prove war crimes."
The source? Sergei Lavrov.
mid.ru/en/press_servi…
The White Helmets reported from the ground.
When verified, their evidence pointed to possible war crimes.
They've been bombed, smeared and trolled as a result.
The witnesses have been targeted, but the evidence remains. /
Thread ends.
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