MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. Damascus sees the full picture regarding the Kremlin’s special military operation in Ukraine to protect Russia’s defensive interests. What’s more, the authorities of Syria unconditionally support Moscow’s move, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad told TASS.

"I would like to stress that Syria completely supports Russia’s decision to launch its special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of protecting national security, the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity from mercenaries and neo-Nazis, who have been pouring in there from all over the world," Haddad said in an interview with TASS. "Syria is well aware of the danger posed by the West in regards to Russia."

According to the diplomat, nowadays Moscow is facing a slew of threats emanating from the West. One of the challenges, he said, "is the bogus and misleading media war aimed at falsifying the truth and the country’s reputation in the eyes of its people."

"Secondly, there are mercenaries, who are fighting against Russia with the support of the United States and Western countries," the ambassador noted. "These are very same mercenaries, who fought in Syria with the aim of demolishing its infrastructure and state institutions, in addition to subordinating other countries and their peoples to Western hegemony."

Thirdly, Haddad highlighted the economic blockade along with unjust sanctions, which Western countries unilaterally introduced against Syria.

"Today, we see that they [the Western countries] are back again and have imposed the very same sanctions against Russia and its people," he stressed. "Syria and Russia have jointly come up against this insolence and Western hegemony, led by the United States."

Russia’s military operation

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had decided to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

Subsequently, the DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.