never forget Aleppo

 UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Ancient City of Aleppo, Syria, before and after Russian bombardment, 2016.

 

Comrades,

Folks tend to forget that Vlad the Impaler has some very serious form when it comes to urban warfare. If you think Putin will hesitate for one second in totally demolishing Kyiv - if that's what it takes to conquer the Ukraine - then think again. He will. With no regrets. If he could get away with nuking it, he would. Make no mistake. He would love nothing more.

The complete & utter destruction of the capital of Chechnya, Grozny, in late 1999-early 2000 was on direct orders from Putin as the final act in the Second Chechen War. The city of half a million people was relentlessly pounded by air strikes, missile attacks, and heavy artillery until hardly anything was left standing. Even after the war was officially declared over, the Red Army went about dynamiting anything that was left for months afterwards, just to make sure. As a result of Putin's sheer barbarity, all traces of Grozny were erased from the surface of this earth and as many as 30,000 civilians died. In 2003, the United Nations declared Grozny "the most destroyed city in the world". That's all Vlad's work.

and let's also never ever forget it was Putin's jet bombers who pulverised the Ancient City in Aleppo - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - until it lay in ruins in 2016, including the medieval Al-Madina Souq, the largest covered market in the world at some 14 kilometers long, dating back to the 13th century. Despite some recent diligent efforts in re-building work, it's originality is gone forever, but never forgotten. If you are looking for a modern example of the wanton destruction of an ancient city, that's it. That's all Vlad's work. History repeats.

So, you'd have to sincerely hope that the city surveyors and heritage people in Kyiv have been out in force in recent months, closely mapping the built city and accounting in intricate detail for all of it's long history and heritage, just like the Polish people did in Warsaw back in '44, when they realised the Nazi's would totally destroy the city on Hitler's orders, before they were forced to leave. Without those historic plans created and held in secret by the Poles, an entirely levelled Warsaw would have never been rebuilt.

The people of Ukraine know all of this all too well, so it's no surprise to see millions fleeing ahead of an invasion by the Red Army, who also have a very poor reputation as an occupying force. Look no further than Berlin, May 1945.  History repeats.

Mohammad Mohiedine Anis, 70, smokes his pipe and listens to music in his destroyed home. Aleppo, Syria, July 2016. Photo: Joseph Eid/AFP.