NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
MINSK, 24 March (BelTA) - Military doctors who went to help the earthquake-hit Syria are true patriots, faithful to the military duty, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said during a ceremony to honor the Belarusian military doctors who returned from Syria, BelTA has learned.
"I have a pleasant mission today - to honor the people of the most humane profession, whose representatives work and perform their tasks in peacetime too. You help us to keep the most precious thing we have - health and life. I am very pleased that it was the military medics who carried out the mission in Syria, providing assistance to people in a difficult situation," Viktor Khrenin said.
The defense minister hailed the military doctors as true patriots of Belarus, as people faithful to military duty. "I know that the trip was not easy. When receiving reports, our Commander-in-Chief always inquired about the situation in Syria.The whole country watched TV reports about your work. You had a unique opportunity to see firsthand what a country that falls under the influence of the aggressive, radical policy of the United States can turn into. Aleppo was a flourishing city but you saw what it turned into as a result of the civil war. I think that you will share your impressions with your relatives and friends. That was what we might have faced should their attempts in 2022 succeeded. Unfortunately, these attempts still continue," the defense minister said. According to Viktor Khrenin, Belarusian doctors provided assistance to patients aged from one to 90.
A Belarusian special medical unit went to Syria on 8 February to help victims of devastating earthquakes. Immediately upon arrival, they deployed a military field hospital in Aleppo which received an average of 200 people per day. The hospital employed multi-skilled specialists. Syrian citizens could receive highly qualified medical care from surgeons, therapists, anesthesiologists, neurologists, infectious disease specialists and ophthalmologists.
Syrians turned to the Belarusian military doctors with various problems: undiagnosed fractures, the consequences of chronic injuries, mine-explosive injuries, bullet and shrapnel wounds. Summing up the mission of Belarusian doctors in Syria, the Defense Ministry reported that more than 3,000 Syrians, including children, received qualified medical care. More than 800 tests were conducted in the laboratory of the military field hospital.
The Belarusian doctors have been helping the Syrian people for more than a month. They returned to Belarus on 17 March, Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Pavel Zaretsky said in a new episode of BelTA's YouTube project V Teme [On Point]. He shared his memories of working in Aleppo: "The area we visited was hit the worst by the earthquake and also the combat hostilities. We traveled around the city, its surroundings and could see everything with our own eyes. There were a lot of destroyed houses, some areas have seized to exist. Previously, five million people lived in the city, now - a little more than two. Some buildings are quite flimsy with one or two rooms upholstered with improvised materials. There is no finishing as such. The climate in winter is quite cold, so people often froze here. Many people keep sheep, chickens. All this can be seen almost in the center of the city."
