MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th January, 2021) Russia is still waiting for the UN cultural agency UNESCO and other international charities to assist Syria in restoring peace to its communities after years of war, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said.
"When relics were being destroyed in Palmyra and Aleppo, UNESCO said they were acts of barbarism... but the fact is that when the opportunity presented itself they were in no hurry [to help]," he said.
Shoigu said in a documentary aired by Rossiya 1 television channel that Russia had made a lot of effort to digitalize Palmyra and remove unexploded ordinances from the ancient city.
"It was one of the goals before us � to show that a new life has begun, that children are going to school, that hospitals have reopened, that the life as it was before is returning and that we should assist in this effort," he added.
Islamist militants captured Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, several times during the almost-a-decade-long war. This led to the destruction of some of its famous treasures. Russia helped Syrian government troops to reclaim the city in 2017.
