Russian event urges new look at Syria's 'liberated' Aleppo
GENEVA (AP) - Russian officials say that some 25,000 Christians have returned to eastern Aleppo since the city was fully retaken by Syrian government forces backed by Russia.
In a conference organized in Geneva Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. Human Rights Council meeting, Russian officials sought to generate another narrative about the country's war that has left at least 400,000 people dead and driven over 12 million people from their homes.
The two hour presentation entitled "Aleppo: A city free from terror. New life, new hopes," included a video uplink to speak with several Syrians on the ground in eastern Aleppo as well as images of Russian medics helping the injured.
FILE - In this file picture taken Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 from the balcony of the Abdul-Hamid Khatib home, people walk through mounds of rubble which used to be high rise apartment buildings in the once rebel-held Ansari neighborhood in the eastern Aleppo, Syria.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
The Russian event was also an appeal for greater support from Western nations for Aleppo's reconstruction.