"Assad and Putin are more than just a vassal and a suzerain": Zelenskyy reacts to torture chambers in Syria and explains why the world should put an end to another dangerous comradeship

After the escape of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the world saw the horrors that took place in the regime's prisons and torture chambers. Syrians were assaulted, raped and killed for years there, just what the Russian invaders were and are doing to Ukrainians under occupation.

Both the Assad regime and the regime of its "master," Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, are based on violence. They are more than just a vassal and a suzerain, they are accomplices, so the world must unite to put an end to the atrocities and human rights violations supported by Russia. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The whole world celebrates Human Rights Day on December 10. This year, this day is accompanied by gruesome photos from Syrian prisons and torture chambers of the Assad regime opened by rebels, Zelensky emphasized.

"People have been tortured there for many years. Men and women. They were beaten, assaulted, raped. Thousands and thousands of people went through this vicious cycle of violence. The Assad regime has been based solely on violence for decades. And this is exactly what all the regimes that Putin supports are like. We have seen the same prisons, torture chambers, unspeakable violence, humiliation, beatings, torture, rape and other crimes on our territory in every settlement occupied by Russian invaders," the Head of State drew parallels between the two man-hating regimes.

Russia, which the Ukrainian president has called a "prison state," resorts to terror, torture, and murder as a tool to keep foreign territories it occupies. That is why one of the first things Moscow does on the occupied land is building prisons and torture chambers. Ukrainians have seen and experienced all this since the beginning of the aggression in 2014.

"Since the beginning of the Russian occupation, repression and torture have always followed the tanks. We first saw this in Ukrainian Crimea in 2014, when the Russian occupation began to repress the indigenous people, the largest Muslim community in Ukraine - the Crimean Tatars - as well as journalists and political figures. Russia then continued its horrific war crimes in occupied Donbas, including the notorious Izolyatsia prison. Since February 2022, Russia has implemented this style of war in all other occupied territories. The atrocities have increased in scale and brutality," Zelenskyy reminded.

That's why, he is convinced, the footage of Syrians who have waited years to be released from Assad's torture chambers touches Ukrainians to the core.

Russia has contributed greatly to the formation of the bloody Assad regime in Syria, giving birth to a dictator and a loyal accomplice. To put an end to violence, the world must end Russian influence everywhere, including Ukraine. After all, the safe future of the planet is born on the battlefield in our country.

"Assad and Putin are more than just a vassal and a suzerain. They are accomplices in violence. Dictators like Assad cannot survive without dictators like Putin. And Putin will seek revenge for Assad's fall. That is why we need unity and strength to stand up to regimes that sow nothing but humiliation and leave behind nothing but suffering, pain and ruin. By helping Ukraine fight against the Russian dictatorship, the international community is helping many other regions of the world restore security and achieve protection from violence," Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian president called on the world to remember the simple axiom: it there is no punishment for horrific atrocities, they will only multiply.

"In fact, only Putin and Assad deserve to be in prison, not the innocent people they have been imprisoning for years," the head of state summarized.

As a reminder, on December 8, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Ukraine's losses in the war with Russia and the latest data on how many soldiers Russia has lost. According to the head of state, since September, the ratio of losses between Ukraine and Russia has been 1 to 5-6.

Zelenskyy added that during the full-scale Russian aggression, 198,000 Russians were killed and more than 550,000 occupants were wounded. On the Ukrainian side, about 370,000 defenders have been confirmed injured and 43,000 Ukrainian heroes killed. Irrecoverable losses do not include missing soldiers.

As you know, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are held captive by Russia, including a significant number of children.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!