BEIRUT, March 16. /TASS/. Residents of the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor staged a solidarity with Russia rally, the SANA news service reported.

According to the agency, the participants held a rally "in solidarity with Russia and its people rejecting US-Western policies aimed at undermining Russia’s security and stability."

The participants carried Syrian and Russian flags and portraits of Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Bashar al-Assad of Syria, as well as banners that read: "We support Russia."

On February 24, Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. Afterward, the US, EU, UK and some other countries said they were imposing sanctions on Russian individuals and legal entities.