Residents of Syria thanked Russia for the opportunity to drive a section of the M-4 highway in Euphrates Region. Earlier, the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties reported on the beginning of the movement of civilian vehicles on the M-4 highway between the settlements of Ain Issa and tal Tamr with a length of more than 160 kilometers.
The columns are accompanied by Russian military police, and Russian drones are tracking them from the air.
Previously, only Russian-Turkish patrolling took place in this section, and civilians were forced to move by-pass road, with the distance increasing to 350 kilometers.
"Thanks to Russia and the President (Vladimir) Putin for opening this road to us, without it there was only suffering. The most important thing is safety! We used to have take by-pass road for ten hours. Now it's only two hours. I really want to believe that the terrorists will not block this road again and we will always drive here, " Mahmoud Fatih said, quoted by RIA Novosti.
Traffic, as noted, opened in both directions, now every day from two localities towards each other columns with civilian vehicles accompanied by the Russian military will drive.
"We are very grateful to you for this road. We really need it. If it hadn't opened, we would have continued to suffer. A lot of time and agony brings a trip along the bypass road. We knew the road was closed. So we couldn't go. We heard that people in emergency cases tried to travel along it and came under fire. If the road is open, it will be safe, then we will go every 20 days," said another civilian, Fadel Wasim.
The new activity also attracted American military personnel. Two armored vehicles with American flags arrived at the gathering place in tal Tamra. At the request of the Russian military, they observed what was happening from a distance, so as not to interfere with the formation of the column.
During the first day, more than 400 people in more than a hundred cars accompanied by the Russian military passed along the open route.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria / TASS