Only nights are left to bury dead. The days in Ostghuta know only horror of bombs and missiles. In densely populated suburban region of Syrian capital, Damascus, y fall on children, women and men who have been besieged re for more than four years by Assad regime. Today, Ostghuta is one of last spots in country still held by his opponents.

A few hundred thousand people are trapped re and cut off from everything: food or medication barely enters, injured and desperate cannot go out. The few doctors who stay with m have long been a priority target of attacks in still existing clinics and makeshift ambulances. Just like mourners, when y find mselves toger before sunset.

One and a half years ago, world stared full of horror at east of Aleppo. And watched Syrian and Russian Air Force bomb rebel-controlled part of city. How y deliberately destroyed hospitals and schools. As y often did a second time, as soon as helpers and rescuers arrived. As in months of this battle very likely poison gas was put into use. How regime and its brors in arms did not allow relief from outside, nor did anyone escape horrors.

Until boiler was evacuated and city was liberated, or more precisely: tens of thousands of people from Aleppo were expelled to norrn region of Idlib to make it later. War crimes against which only fainted dismay stood, no one was held accountable for it. The world did not find an answer and let it happen.

Assad wins

It is often said that war in Syria is hardly to be grasped in its complexity. This may still be true, even though participating States and overlapping interests are now meeting a great deal more directly and consequences are radiating more than ever in entire region, and have long since become global.

At same time, message that came out of Aleppo is now being emphatically confirmed in Ostghuta and foreseeably in Idlib, basically simply: Assad wins, his annihilation and expulsion strategy along with Russia and Iran goes on.

The last fights against is take care of ors or one arranges. In north, Kurds are forced under regime to give Turkey peace. For winners, at this stage of war, only thing to do is to divide among mselves what is still to be used by Syria. In Assad's calculus, this also means that re can be no place for people who are still living in few opposition areas.

The situation in Syria Source: IHS Conflict Monitor, New York Times. Last update: February 5, 2018. Graphic: Matthias Holz/Time online

The illusion of a peace process has always been a means of winning time for killing. The military solution in Syria, which supposedly did not exist for all those who neverless put hope into diplomacy – on side of regime drove Russia and Iran mercilessly advancing m under pretext of ANTITERRORKAMPFS. Consequences, veto Russia shielded UN Security Council. The US was only interested in IS and not suffering. And Europeans can't talk much more than that anyway.

People in Ostghuta know what's coming. That no one will hurry to help you, even though everyone is looking. One told Reuters news agency, "We're just waiting for it to be our turn to die."

Date Of Update: 22 February 2018, 12:03