Russian aid planes arrive in Syria

Two Russian planes loaded with 52 tons of humanitarian aid Tuesday landed at the international airport of Syria's coastal city of Latakia, the official SANA news agency reported. The move comes against the backdrop of an "outrageous" economic siege imposed by the West on Damascus, the report said. Since the Syrian crisis erupted three years ago, the EU has slapped on Damascus harsh economic sanctions, including an oil embargo, and withdrew its experts and funds from Syria, while Russia has delivered several batches of humanitarian relief to the country, the last on Jan. 19. The long-standing conflict in Syria has drained up its resources, increased poverty and unemployment to a record level, and displaced more than 6 million and forced out almost 2 million people out of its 23 million population.