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Russian military to take part in demining in Palmyra — Putin

The Russian leader congratulated the UNESCO director general Irina Bokova on the liberation of the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site, from terrorists

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised that the Russian contingent in Syria will take part in demining works in Palmyra, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday after Putin’s telephone conversation with UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova.

The Russian leader congratulated the UNESCO director general on the liberation of the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site, from terrorists. "Putin informed Bokova that officers of the Russian contingent jointly with the Syrian military will take part in demining works in this ancient city," Peskov said.

"The Russian president and the UNESCO director general agreed that UNESCO, Russia and Syria will take necessary measures as soon as possible to evaluate damage done to Palmyra by terrorists and to work out a plan of actions to restore what can be restored," the Kemlin spokesman said.

Bokova thanked Putin for assistance and reiterated UNESCO’s commitment to joint work, Peskov added.

The Syrian army on Sunday said that it liberated the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site, with support from the Russian air group.

Palmyra, an ancient city in Syria’s Homs province, was seized by gunmen of the Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) in early summer 2015. The Syrian authorities said back then that Palmyra with its monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, could share the miserable fate of Iraq’s ancient cities of Assur, Nimrud and Hatra that were destroyed by Islamic State militants.