“It’s simply impossible to live in Syria”

Events in Syria are more and more like a war of all against all: in addition to the usual clashes between the Free Syrian Army (SAR) and regular troops, kidnappings have become more frequent. They are also attributed to the SAR, but the rebels deny them.

In December, three employees of the Hmisho Steel steel plant were abducted near the city of Latakia: Russian citizen Viktor Gorelov, Italian Mario Belluomo, and Syrian Abdessattar Hassun, who also had a Russian passport. The kidnappers directly approached the employers of the hostages demanding a ransom. Only three days after the kidnapping, its size became known - $ 700 thousand. However, even this amount was announced by journalists with reference to sources: there were no public appeals and statements from the kidnappers, no one even knows which group is holding the plant workers.

Meanwhile, the patrol ship Yaroslav the Wise, the large landing ships Kaliningrad and Alexander Shabalin, and the tanker Lena entered the Mediterranean from Baltiysk. They went to the coast of Syria for the possible evacuation of our compatriots, of whom there are about 20-25 thousand in the country.

In besieged Homs, they are used to such news, but they react sharply to them. The assistant captain of one of the SAR brigades controlling the old city, Raed Ali, bursts into shouting: “Don’t they understand, it’s simply impossible to live in Syria, fuel oil, gasoline are almost gone. Where to get money from? Maybe start selling organs? Our groups do not kidnap anyone, if someone is taken prisoner, they are shabiha or spies. Why would others kidnap ordinary people? For the money, of course. No one hopes to get a full ransom, but if you bargain a little, you can live. We recently caught a group of shabiha - they complained that Assad stopped paying. Even if the government has no money, then what about those who live in the villages?” Fuad Basbous, an activist, a cameraman, intervenes in the conversation, “All crimes can be blamed on the Free Army: from robberies in houses to kidnappings. I'm not saying we're clean, but still, we're given too much credit."

The siege of Homs has been going on for 200 days, but the city does not even think about giving up. Two laboratories work day and night in the old city and Al Khalidiya district, where shells, home-made RPGs, rockets are made to fight the government army, which has encircled the militants. The most fierce battles are taking place in the city of Al Rastan, which is 25 km from Homs. Every day, up to 30 people die there, including civilians who involuntarily take part in the battles or simply give shelter to the rebels in dilapidated entrances.

Lira and liters

Things are somewhat different in Aleppo. One half of the city is controlled by the SAR, the second was lost in the summer, but they are going to storm it in the near future. Local fighters were lucky: in addition to a small monthly salary, heavy equipment and communications equipment are supplied here from Turkey. However, the eternal problem with medicines and food prices has not been resolved. The remaining residents predict that famine will begin in a couple of weeks, the cost of bread in Aleppo reaches 275 Syrian liras ($3.8), and one has to pay 55 liras ($0.7) per liter of gasoline. For comparison: in December 2011, the price per liter was 44 liras (0.6$).

Here, as in the whole country, they look with hope to the West and to Russia. "Assad doesn't have long to go, that's obvious," French President Francois Hollande was quoted as saying by Captain Sarmad Khoury in a conversation with The NEw Times correspondent. “We will withstand everything, even the position of your country is no longer as obvious as before.”

However, Vladimir Putin would object to the Syrian activist. “We are not concerned about the fate of the Assad regime, we understand what is happening there. One family has been in power for 40 years, and there will certainly be a change in demand. We are worried about what will happen next. We are in favor of finding a solution to the problem that would save the region and this country from disintegration and the ongoing civil war,” the president said at his press conference.

While the international community is discussing what to do with the country, the Syrians themselves are waiting for a turning point in the course of events. The rebels promise to celebrate the New Year with an oriental scale, which means that on December 31, news feeds will be full of reports of the dead and wounded.