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Expert lauds Russia’s move to provide satellite images to Lebanon

Such a noble move is typical of Russia and President Vladimir Putin, General Charles Abi Nader noted

BEIRUT, November 23. /TASS/. Russia did a noble thing by providing Lebanon with satellite images taken on the day when an explosion hit the Beirut port in August 2020, Lebanese expert on strategic issues General Charles Abi Nader told TASS.

"Such a noble move is typical of Russia and President Vladimir Putin," he noted. "Unlike the United States and a number of other Western countries, who for unknown reasons have failed to keep their promise, Russia promptly responded to Lebanon’s request," the expert added. The general stressed that "objective data from satellites will help Lebanese investigators figure out how objects moved at the port and establish the circumstances of the explosion." "From the technical standpoint, these images will make it possible to rule out some possible causes of the accident," he said.

According to Abi Nader, "the Lebanese people are grateful to Russia because finding out the truth about the port explosion will help ease political tensions that have emerged around the activities of a commission led by Judge Tarek Bitar."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier at a press conference following talks with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib that Russia had handed satellite images taken on the day of the Beirut port blast over to the Lebanese authorities.

On August 4, 2020, a powerful explosion rocked the Lebanese capital's port, estimated to have been equivalent to 1,500 tonnes of TNT. The shockwave destroyed and damaged thousands of buildings in the city and beyond, killing 219 people and leaving 6,500 injured. More than 300,000 people lost their homes. According to the Lebanese Interior Ministry, the explosion occurred after a warehouse containing over 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate caught fire during welding work.

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