Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
March 29th 2017

The Syrian American Council salutes the Russian people for Sunday’s massive protests against the corruption and autocracy of Putin’s regime. Tens of thousands across Russia took to the streets and over 1000 were arrested after Russian dissident Alexei Navalny revealed that Putin’s prime minister had attained massive wealth through corruption, which is especially jarring in light of a deepening Russian economic crisis.

Poverty rates in Russia last year increased to 15%, their highest levels in over a decade, while over a quarter of Russian companies cut salaries and nearly 90% of all Russian state governments were deemed financially unstable. Yet Putin spent over $2.5 million a day last year so that Russia’s air force could join the Assad regime and Iranian extremist militias in their war crimes against the Syrian people, most notably in Aleppo. Thousands of Russian mercenaries have also been deployed to fight on the ground at Putin’s behest.

“While ordinary Russians struggle to make ends meet, Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev have taken the people’s hard-earned tax money to enrich themselves and perpetrate war crimes against the Syrian people,” said Mirna Barq, SAC President. “We stand united with the Russian people in their struggle against oppression and hope that both Russians and Syrians will see freedom soon.”


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