Russia to send more aid for Syrian refugees this week

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia’s Emergencies Ministry will send more planes to Lebanon and Jordan carrying humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees this week, the ministry said on its website, according to RIA Novosti.

A plane carrying 26.7 tons of aid was due to take off for the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Wednesday, April 10 morning, and another is due to fly to Jordan’s capital, Amman, on Thursday, the ministry said.

A week ago, the first cargo of humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees in Lebanon was delivered to Beirut. A total of four installments of aid are to be sent from Russia to Lebanon.

According to the Lebanese Disasters Emergency Committee, there are over 400,000 Syrian refugees in the country. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said in late January that his small country's capabilities had been exhausted, but Syrian refugees were still coming. He called on other Arab states to help not only financially, but also to give shelter to those fleeing the ongoing civil war in Syria.

At least as many refugees are estimated to have fled to Jordan, according to the Syria Regional Refugee Response.

About 70,000 people have died in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in March 2011, according to UN estimates.