October 16, 2023

Russia Reacts to Gaza War


Russia Reacts to Gaza War
A father carries his daughter after a missile strike by Israel on the Gaza Strip. UN Special Procedures, Twitter.

On October 12, Alya Zaripova, the spokeswoman for Russia's mission in Ramallah, Palestine, announced that 400 Russian nationals asked for evacuation from the Gaza Strip.

According to Zaripova, 550 civilians requested that Russia evacuate them from Gaza, including 110 Ukrainian, Belarussian, Kazakh, Moldovan, and Palestinian citizens. On October 10, Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Maria Zakharova announced that Russia was considering evacuation plans for citizens in combat zones in Palestinian territories. 

Over a million people from the former Soviet Union live in Israel. At least 37,000 Russians have emigrated there since the start of Russia's War on Ukraine.

When Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing over 1,300 and kidnapping 150 Israelis, most of them civilians, sixteen Russian citizens were killed. Eight are unaccounted for. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not call Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack nor express condolences for the Russian lives lost.

The Russian Diplomatic Mission has called the situation in Gaza "catastrophic." The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for a ceasefire. Putin blamed the "U.S. policy failure" for the war in the Middle East.

The Russian president responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in Ukraine has compared Israel's blockade of Gaza to the Nazi siege of Leningrad in World War II. Putin also offered to mediate between Israel and Hamas.

 

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