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Conflict in Syria

Ties between White Helmets and terrorists in Syria expanding, warns Russian expert

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the White Helmets have a long history with terrorist groups

WASHINGTON, April 29. /TASS/. The White Helmets non-governmental organization continues to engage in illegal activities in Syria while its ties with terrorists expand, director of the Fund for Research of Problems of Democracy Maxim Grigoryev told a press conference at the Russian Embassy in Washington on Monday.

"We have a lot of evidence that the illegal activities of the White Helmets continue in Idlib. They have even more ties to terrorist groups now. All those crimes that I talked about today, continue in Idlib," Grigoryev said.

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Press review: White Helmets may stall Syria pullout and how low will US-Russia ties go

The Syria Civil Defense (commonly known as The White Helmets) is a non-governmental organization created in the Syrian territory in 2014. The group is notorious for uploading to the world web photographs and videos allegedly illustrating destruction and casualties caused by the Syrian government army and its allies. The organization has more than once been accused of fabricating fakes. Some of the alleged victims shown in the video as victims of a chemical attack in Douma eventually testified as witnesses at a news briefing arranged by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to refute the very instance of chemical attacks.

Russia’s official position is the SCD is part of a media campaign unleashed against the Syrian authorities. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in January 2018 the White Helmets "have long cooperated with terrorist groups" and "utterly discredited themselves by stating provocations and spreading flagrant falsehoods."

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Syrian conflict

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