MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. The expansion of the scale of strikes by the United States and Britain on the territory of Yemen will lead to the suffering of the country’s civilians, Yevgeny Kudrov, Russia's charge d'affaires in Yemen, has told TASS in an interview.
"So far, the US and British strikes, according to the information reaching us, are aimed at military facilities of the Houthi movement Ansar Allah. However, such measures are unlikely to make the Houthis reconsider their attitudes, especially since amid bombardments popular support for Ansar Allah, as we can see from the weeks of demonstrations by thousands in the capital Sanaa and other Yemeni cities, is only growing," he noted. "In such a situation, Washington and London, as many fear, may decide to expand the scale of their strikes. Statements about the possibility of such a development have already been heard from the White House. In this case, Yemeni civilians, their homes and property could be directly affected."
In this regard, the diplomat said that "the general economic situation in Yemen, which has just begun to demonstrate an upturn over the past 18 months under the truce, will inevitably deteriorate again."
Kudrov pointed out that the situation in Yemen remained extremely difficult "due to an acute military and political crisis."
"According to the UN, the humanitarian situation in Yemen is one of the worst in the world. In order to improve the life of the civilian population, which is used to surviving in extremely difficult conditions, it is necessary to increase the supply of food, medicine and essential goods to the country, rather than bombing the infrastructure, which is already badly damaged by years of hostilities," Kudrov said.
On January 12, the US and British armed forces, using planes, ships and submarines, for the first time struck Ansar Allah facilities in a number of Yemeni cities, including Sanaa and Hodeidah. The targets included the Houthis’ missile and drone sites as well as radar stations. Subsequently, the US began to regularly strike Houthi missile facilities inside Yemen.