Moscow, December 22, 2016
Photo: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610011045894845-russia-humanitarian-aid-syria/
A Russian delegation has arrived in Damascus with humanitarian aid and more than 1,000 children’s Christmas gifts in tow, for families that have lost parents in the war, reports life.ru.
The cargo of medicine, grains, sugar, salt, pasta, canned foods, candy, stationery, and children’s toys was delivered by participants from the “Forty Times Forty” Orthodox public organization, the Apostle Paul Foundation, and the Orthodox social network “Elitsy.”
Assistance is also being brought to the St. Thecla Convent in Maaloula which was destroyed in September 2013 by militants who kidnapped the abbess and eleven nuns, releasing them in April 2014. The monastery is being supplied with liturgical utensils, icons and procession banners.
The delegation will also visit refugee camps, childrens' hospitals, orphanages, and students who have lost parents in the war, as well as various monasteries and churches. Additionally, the volunteers have a meeting scheduled with His Holiness Patriarch John X of Antioch, as well as various governmental and public figures.
