A Russian general, identified in a DailyExpertNews investigation as responsible for attacking civilians in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and his role as architect of the siege of Aleppo, was involved in high-level defense talks with his British counterpart in 2017 after he Russia’s highest office. military credit for his role in the war in Syria.
Colonel Alexander Zhuravlyov, in his capacity as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, met with the then Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff, General Messenger, for high-level talks, during a trip to Moscow in 2017 in what was marked by the British Ministry of Defense as “military to military dialogue.” Zhuravlyov discussed with Messenger “a restart of military interaction,” Russia’s state news agency TASS reported on Feb. 28, 2017, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.
DailyExpertNews’s investigation found that Zhuravlyov’s leadership catalyzed the attack on eastern Aleppo in 2016. After taking the reins, the Russian army quickly stepped up its attacks on the rebel-held territory and completed the siege of the densely populated city, claiming a large death toll and setting the wheels in motion for a tactic that Russian intervention in Syria: besiege, starve, bomb and grind into submission.
His term of command also saw a dramatic increase in documented cluster munitions attacks in Aleppo.
European intelligence analysts who spoke to DailyExpertNews on condition of anonymity said the pattern of Zhuravlyov’s behavior in Syria and Ukraine is the same, subjugating cities by terror. “Zhuravlyov was brought in with the aim of bringing about a rapid capitulation of Aleppo. He did so using much of the same method we see in Ukraine. He ordered the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions against dense civilian infrastructure and population,” the statement said. analyst.
Syrian human rights activists have long called for the Russian general to be held accountable, and Matthew Ingham, a leading British human rights lawyer at law firm Payne Hicks Beach, told DailyExpertNews: “Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlyov should have been sanctioned for his actions in Syria,” adding “It is a shame that there was not a stronger response to alleged war crimes at that stage, because that may have influenced Putin’s Ukrainian strategic calculations from the start.
Neither the US nor the UK have taken any public action against Zhuravlyov or other key Russian generals involved in war crimes. The US State Department declined to comment on the specific findings of the DailyExpertNews investigation, but said it continues to monitor and assess war crimes and reports of ongoing violence and abuse.
In a statement to DailyExpertNews, the British Ministry of Defense said an earlier statement from 2017 “made it clear” that they supported military-military dialogue to minimize risk and miscalculation.
“We stand by that principle, which is why we gave Russia every opportunity this year to engage in a dialogue about Ukraine before launching their reprehensible and unprovoked invasion,” a defense ministry spokesman said.
Jennifer Hansler of DailyExpertNews contributed to this report
