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Syrian Officials Try to Contain Russian Critics of the Syrian Regime

Russian military vehicles are seen in eastern Ghouta near Douma, in Damascus, Syria (File photo: Reuters)
Russian military vehicles are seen in eastern Ghouta near Douma, in Damascus, Syria (File photo: Reuters)
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Syrian Officials Try to Contain Russian Critics of the Syrian Regime

Russian military vehicles are seen in eastern Ghouta near Douma, in Damascus, Syria (File photo: Reuters)
Russian military vehicles are seen in eastern Ghouta near Douma, in Damascus, Syria (File photo: Reuters)

Russian and Syrian media outlets are exchanging accusations following social posts of former members of the Syrian parliament and officials attacking Moscow and President Vladimir Putin. The repercussions of the media exchange were seen in both countries.

Russia had not issued any official comment on the matter, and military and diplomatic officials only commented on the field situation in Idlib and surrounding regions.

However, Russian circles familiar with matters of the Middle East, namely Syria, are closely following the comments, a source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Notably, Russian state-owned channel RT removed an interview of Syrian dissident Firas Tlass with Salam Mosafir. During the interview, Tlass revealed details on corruption in Syria and accused the leadership of covering it.

The channel issued a statement on its official page saying the deleted material violated its standards and included information without supporting evidence.

However, RT and other Russian channels conducted dozens of similar interviews in the past with dissidents or several Syrian figures who expressed similar positions.

A source estimated that the decision to remove the interview was related to the recent media campaigns and came in response to a Syrian government request.

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Russian authorities asked some of media organizations to prevent the publication of op-eds criticizing the Syrian regime.

A Russian diplomat responded to this earlier by saying that Russia cannot prevent the press from expressing all points of view and that it is a free country and respects freedom of the press.

In Syria, a number of journalists and MPs criticized MP Khaled al-Abboud, who launched a campaign against Putin in a post on his Facebook page, entitled: "What if Assad gets angry with Putin?"

The post included sharp criticism that focused on the fact that Assad's main ally is Iran - Hezbollah, and wondering what the scenario would be if he pulled the rug from underneath Putin.

Abboud warned that Syria can be deadly for Putin and saying that the Russian troops are an occupying force in Syria.

The long post also carried many references threatening the Russians, and concluded that if Assad wanted, he can defeat Putin and the latter's his name will be removed from Russian history forever.

Many authors and former officials in Damascus sought to undermine the importance of Abboud's speech, and consider it personal comment that does not reflect the official position.

Separately, Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily briefing that it was satisfied with the cease-fire established in the Idlib region, and announced there were only two violations.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the Russian and Turkish military continue working to implement the Additional Protocol of March 5 in Idlib.

“We mark Ankara's efforts to counter the provocations of radicals in their attempts to destabilize the situation in the de-escalation zone," she said.

Zakharova stressed that sustainable security in Idlib can only be achieved by separating the so-called moderate opposition from the terrorists.

She pointed out that the situation is difficult in southern Syria, noting that they received information on the deteriorating health and epidemiological situation, especially after Jordan closed its borders as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

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Arab World

Sudan Civil War Overwhelms Border Town in Neighbor Chad as Refugees Find Little Help

A Sudanese army soldier walks toward a truck-mounted gun left behind by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Salha, south of Omdurman, a day after recapturing it from the RSF, on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
A Sudanese army soldier walks toward a truck-mounted gun left behind by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Salha, south of Omdurman, a day after recapturing it from the RSF, on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
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Sudan Civil War Overwhelms Border Town in Neighbor Chad as Refugees Find Little Help

A Sudanese army soldier walks toward a truck-mounted gun left behind by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Salha, south of Omdurman, a day after recapturing it from the RSF, on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
A Sudanese army soldier walks toward a truck-mounted gun left behind by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Salha, south of Omdurman, a day after recapturing it from the RSF, on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)

Fatima Omas Abdullah wakes up every morning with aches and pains from sleeping on bare ground for almost two years. She did not expect Sudan's civil war to displace her for so long into neighboring Chad.

“There is nothing here,” she said, crying and shaking the straw door of her makeshift home. Since April 2023, she has been in the Adre transit camp a few hundred meters from the Sudanese border, along with almost a quarter-million others fleeing the fighting, The Associated Press said.

Now the US- backed aid system that kept hundreds of thousands like Abdullah alive on the edge of one of the world’s most devastating wars is fraying. Under the Trump administration, key foreign aid has been slashed and funding withdrawn from United Nations programs that feed, treat and shelter refugees.

In 2024, the US contributed $39.3 million to the emergency response in Chad. So far this year, it has contributed about $6.8 million, the UN says. Overall, only 13% of the requested money to support refugees in Chad this year has come in from all donors, according to UN data.

In Adre, humanitarian services were already limited as refugees are meant to move to more established camps deeper inside Chad.

Many Sudanese, however, choose to stay. Some are heartened by the military’s recent successes against rival paramilitary forces in the capital, Khartoum. They have swelled the population of this remote, arid community that was never meant to hold so many. Prices have shot up. Competition over water is growing.

Adre isn’t alone. As the fighting inside Sudan’s remote Darfur region shifts, the stream of refugees has created a new, more isolated transit camp called Tine. Since late April, 46,000 people have arrived.

With the aid cuts, there is even less to offer them there.

235,000 Sudanese in a border town Adre has become a fragile frontline for an estimated 235,000 Sudanese. They are among the 1.2 million who have fled into eastern Chad.

Before the civil war, Adre was a town of about 40,000. As Sudanese began to arrive, sympathetic residents with longtime cross-border ties offered them land.

Now there is a sea of markets and shelters, along with signs of Sudanese intending to stay. Some refugees are constructing multi-story buildings.

Sudanese-run businesses form one of Adre’s largest markets. Locals and refugees barter in Sudanese pounds for everything from produce to watches.

“There is respect between the communities,” said resident Asadiq Hamid Abdullah, who runs a donkey cart. “But everyone is complaining that the food is more expensive.”

Chad is one of the world’s poorest countries, with almost 50% of the population living below the poverty line.

Locals say the price of water has quadrupled since the start of Sudan’s civil war as demand rises. Sudanese women told The Associated Press that fights had broken out at the few water pumps for them, installed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders.

Even food aid could run out shortly. The UN World Food Program says funding to support Sudanese refugees in Adre is guaranteed only until July, as the US aid cuts force a 30% reduction in staff worldwide. The UN refugee agency has seen 30% of its funding cut for this area, eastern Chad.

Samia Ahmed, who cradled her 3-year-old and was pregnant with her second child, said she has found work cleaning and doing laundry because the WFP rations don’t last the month.

“I see a gloomy future,” she said.

Sudanese try to fill aid gaps Sudanese are trying to fill gaps in aid, running private schools and their own humanitarian area with a health clinic and women’s center.

Local and UN authorities, however, are increasing the pressure on them to leave Adre. There are too many people here, they say.

“A vast city,” said Hamit Hadjer Abdullai with Chad’s National Commission for the Reception and Reintegration of Refugees.

He said crime was increasing. Police warn of the Colombians, a Sudanese gang. Locals said it operates with impunity, though Abdullai claimed that seven leaders have been jailed.

“People must move,” said Benoit Kayembe Mukendi, the UN refugee agency’s local representative. “For security reasons and for their protection.”

As the Chadian population begins to demand their land back, Mukendi warned of a bigger security issue ahead.

But most Sudanese won’t go. The AP spoke to dozens who said they had been relocated to camps and returned to Adre to be closer to their homeland and the transit camp's economic opportunities.

There are risks. Zohal Abdullah Hamad was relocated but returned to run a coffee stand. One day, a nearby argument escalated and gunfire broke out. Hamad was shot in the gut.

“I became cold. I was immobile,” she said, crying as she recalled the pain. She said she has closed her business.

The latest Sudanese arrivals to Adre have no chance to establish themselves. On the order of local authorities, they are moved immediately to other camps. The UN said it is transporting 2,000 of them a day.

In Tine, arriving Sudanese find nothing The new and rapidly growing camp of Tine, around 180 kilometers (111 miles) north of Adre, has seen 46,000 refugees arrive since late April from Northern Darfur.

Their sheer numbers caused a UN refugee representative to gasp.

Thousands jostle for meager portions of food distributed by community kitchens. They sleep on the ground in the open desert, shaded by branches and strips of fabric. They bring witness accounts of attacks in Zamzam and El-Fasher: rape, robbery, relatives shot before their eyes.

With the US aid cuts, the UN and partners cannot respond as before, when people began to pour into Adre after the start of the war, UN representative Jean Paul Habamungu Samvura said.

“If we have another Adre here ... it will be a nightmare.”