Writing by Ethar Abdulhaq
(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Russian news agency TASS photographer, Valeriy Sharifulin, published recently a set of photos taken in regime-controlled areas of Aleppo, Damascus and Palmyra.
Sharifulin revealed through his commentary on the photos-probably without knowing- several important point. Most importantly, the semi-destruction of Palmyra museum and regime army officers escape from the camera and their insistence on hiding their faces during photography under pretext they have relatives whom they fear for their life since they live in rebel-controlled areas.
In The photos and comments published by Sharifulin and which Zaman al-Wasl looked through and investigated, the photographer talks in the beginning about Damascus where he visited the city after Russia intervention in Syria in September 2015. Later, he visited twice in February and March and his last visit was in April.
Sharifulin who initiated the group of photos with a photo of himself with a group of regime personnel drinking Mateh (some call it the official drink for Assad army), talked about Damascus as a “safe city” living a normal life except for “checkpoints and soldiers in the street”.
The Russian photographer made sure to take normal photos without any exceptional content like a photo taken inside al-Qishani store and another in a public bath, inside a restaurant. However, away from the center of the city, he focused his lens on children trying to avoid showing destruction which appeared despite of him.
Sharifulin moved to talk about his trip to Aleppo confirming his visited Aleppo twice and that it seems for real like Stalingrad (the Russian city which was completely destroyed in Second World War).
Comparing Aleppo to Stalingrad provokes more than one idea. Most importantly that it was the Russian city which was destroyed during a battle lasting less than 6 months, but Aleppo has been under daily bombing for 6 years with highly destructive missiles and bombs.
The Russian photographer indicated that Aleppo is opposite of Damascus. The sounds of explosions are always there without mentioning the source of these explosions.
Despite the large area of Aleppo and its importance and his saying he visited it twice, Sharifulin only showed two normal photos of Aleppo. One taken in Salah al-Din neighborhood and the other is a high and general capture of the city.
Regarding his visit to the Russian base in Hmeymim (Latakia countryside), he describes his tour there as the most interesting because “it documented in photos the daily life of the soldiers’ way from home.”
In contrast to his other trips in Syria which were under supervision of Ministry of Information and with personal guardianship, Sharifulin clarified that his visit to Hmeymim was supervised by Russian Defense Ministry (this step confirms the prevailing impression the base and its surrounding is a Russian colony that Bashar al-Assad has no control over)..
The Russian photographer pointed out that his movement and photoshoot in Hmeymim were planned and programmed by the Russian ministry and that he could not move without the knowledge of the press center subordinate to the ministry.
Sharifulin continued his talk about Hmeymim and what he saw there saying, “What struck me the most were the relationships between the people, very warm, full of comradery. It was obvious that people were bound together by what they did. I was also amazed by the level of organization. Everything was clear cut and professional. I didn’t see any bedlam there...And honestly, I felt a real sense of pride for our military.”
Sharifulin revealed in this paragraph the size of chaos, disintegration and deterioration which Russian forces are living in general. When he used the expression “I was struck” in his talking about the warmth of relations inside Hmeymim, that recalls immediately the image of an interview saying that the rest of Russian units suffer great deal in the individual relationships with each other. It seems the relationships are vengeful and aggressive and may be resembling the Assad army which most of its officers were trained in the Russian school.
When the Russian photographer returns to precede in his talk about the professionalism and organization in Hmeyime with the expression “I was struck”, that also recalls the image of chaos in the army’s units. Otherwise, he would not be amazed by what he saw in Hmeymim and he would not have concluded stressing that what he saw made him proud of Russian military which does not provoke pride nor admiration inside Russia.
Despite his elaborate talk about Hmeymim and the organization and warmth he saw there, Sharifulin only published 3 captions from there and can be considered less than average and perhaps “embarrassing”. One shows a Russian personnel doing exercise (the photo was taken as his face was facing the ground and cannot be recognized), the other was taken for a room in which there are 3 washing machines were placed in a form that is unorganized nor professional as it is the washing machine in Hmeymim base. Also, another photo was taken without showing the two military men who were among the staff.
Sharifulin talked clearly in the next paragraph and directly about regime officers escape from the camera and their being careful their faces are not shown. So, Sharifulin did not mention anything regarding that Hmeymim officers made sure they are not seen in the photos despite its their countryman who is taking their photos and a war correspondent who was trusted by the ministry of defense they belong to. Perhaps the closest interpretation for Sharifulin’ avoidance of talking about this is his fear of weakening Russians’ trust in their army because pointing out to faces’ hiding lead to think of the Russian soldier one way or another to be cowards.
Underestimating The Regime
Under the title “a story without a face”, Sharifulin addressed the “safety” issue in war adding, “Many Syrian military officers often asked not to show their faces, because they have relatives living in areas controlled by the terrorists. They could be recognized and killed.”
Sharifulin’s extraditable narrative to hide regime army officers seems interesting. On the one hand, even if we are to think it is true underestimates regime’s narrative about the strength of its personnel and soldiers and it presents them as cowards fearing the “terrorists” which they claim to fight day and night. On the other hand, it shows Russian ally irreverence and its resentment to the forces of the regime. It is an underestimation that will show practically and obviously in a later caption that documents killing of an officer and rescuing another senior one.
A moment that lies inside regime red lines and no one dares to take it-not to talk about publishing it- underestimating all the red lines of the regime and do not fear any accountability or reprehension for it.
Sharifulin allocated a paragraph to talk about his Syrian assistant pointing out that regime’s ministry of information put him with a choice to pick up the assistant he wants and he choose Bassem who speaks “excellent” Russian and holds a university degree.
The Russian photographer concluded his talk in this paragraph saying there is a necessity to obtain an official permit before taking photos in cases of being sent by the regime ministry of information or in a personal initiative. It seems “the personal initiative” is the one that got the Russian photographer to Efrin in what he called Syria’s Kurdistan according to him.
Sharifulin did not give many details about how he moved from regime-controlled areas to Syria’s Kurdistan finding it sufficient to say the matter was done by a deal with journalists present in the Kurdish side. He met with them in a checkpoint-he did not specify the checkpoint party- and they were moved to Efrin with a military and security envoy-again he did not say for which party.
The Russian photographer published only one caption from “Syria Kurdistan” for a group calling them Kurdish fighters near city of Izaz.
Sharifulin reached the paragraph in which he talked elaborately about his experience in Palmyra especially it came in conjunction with the battles between ISIS and regime forces and supporting militias in March 2016 and the battles ended between regime recapture of the city.
The Russian photographer indicated that everyone is trying to avoid sending journalists to clashes’ area including the party he works for because they do not want to be responsible in case the journalist was killed.
Sharifulin considered himself lucky to arrive in Palmyra in tandem with the outbreak of clashes to capture its historical citadel overlooking the city. He pointed out that he witnessed the recapture of the citadel and that the photos he took were of the highest value since there was a lot of risk involved in taking them.
He continued saying, “I was taking pictures of a Syrian fighter looking through his binoculars at Palmyra, when an antitank guided missile flew between us. It hit the wall shielding some soldiers, killing two Syrian generals.
Next to this paragraph, Sharifulin published a photo documenting the two killed generals, but with a comment that contradicts his talk and the photo itself. A comment says, “An injured soldier of the Syrian army at the Fahkr ad-Din al-Maani castle in Palmyra, March 26, 2016” whereas Sharifulin himself confirms the killing of two officers in addition to the photo which does not lie. The photo shows an officer lying on the floor with his blood and a higher rank officer and older in age carried by two personnel and beside them personnel from the sectarian militias.
On the other hand, the photo which clearly documents the killing of at least one officer provokes more than one question regarding the authorities giving to the Russians or which they give themselves without caring about anyone. These authorities permitted them to publish this photo knowing that if you are to search in all regime websites and pages for a photo of a killed solider or officer, you would not find any despite the fact that tens of thousands regime personnel have been killed. The reason is that publishing these photos is one of the banned things which regime does not allow or tolerate. Even the regime loyalists condemn and ban republishing of photos of any personnel the minute they were killed even if taken by opposition’s lens because they consider it a crime. Despite all of that, a Russian photographer seems to be able to override all red lines of the regime and its supporters as well as underestimate them.
Palmyra.. The Ghost Town
Sharifulin described Palmyra as a desolate town without civilians. He continued saying, “When the terrorists took over the city, anyone who hadn’t fled, or who didn’t fall in line with the IS mindset were slaughtered. Only die-hard ISIS supporters had remained there, but before the Syrian army regained the city, they had escaped far into the territories controlled by the terrorists. So, when the fighters were taken out, Palmyra turned into a ghost town.”
Sharifulin’s imagination seems vast and naïve at the same time. He claims that tens of thousands of Palmyra residents and population were hard loyalists for ISIS and that’s why they chose to flee to ISIS-controlled areas. They did not flee because they were scared the regime and its militias will massacre them nor they fled because they forcibly displaced in the aim of emptying the city of its resident for their property and houses to be looted by sectarian militias.
This poor Russian narrative does not care being conflicted with hundreds of witnesses or facts. The simplest one and most obvious is the existence of around 70000 displaced people in desert al-Rakban camp most of them are from Palmyra and its surrounding. Most of them preferred the hell of al-Rakban over the regime’s “heaven” and ISIS “bless” which they are accused with utter superficiality of cooperating with them.
Sharifulin continued in revealing one catastrophic aspect in Palmyra which is completely outside ISIS control and under regime-control. The Russian photographer claimed that he could not photograph the city’s museum during the first day of its “liberation” because he spent a lot of time in the frontline and photographing “what is left” from the historical city.
He added, “There was no time left for the museum, so we came back there several days later. My wife, at that time, my fiancée, Yulia Semenova, a TASS correspondent, was also there with me.
When we came to the museum and it was closed. We were told that they keys were taken to Damascus, so we lost all hope of getting in. And then, we got the idea to walk around the museum and there was a huge hole in the wall from where a shell hit it. So that’s how we got inside.”
One cannot avoid what Sharifulin narrated because first he is talking about a site that includes very important historical legacy and second there is a huge question mark on his statements. Let’s start from the issue of there was no time left to visit the museum and was it really like that or was it because the regime and Russian banned him from entering until they finished their “work” inside the museum. Or was it really lack of time. Then why Sharifulin did not come the next day and postponed his visit instead 7 days, (exactly 7 days.
The regime recaptured Palmyra on the 27 of March whereas Sharifulin visited and took the photos on 2 April as it appears on the photos). So how can we or anyone who is interested in human heritage which Palmyra represents can avoid this scandalous contradiction between a closed-door museum whose keys are far away in Damascus whereas its walls are open and available for entry. Was the regime unable to close the gaps in the walls during the “few days” which Sharifulin was absent off the city even with rubble and stones? And how those who are supposed to guard the museum say that the keys are in Damascus and that the photographer and his fiancé cannot enter and then by chance they enter through a hole in the wall. Was this hole hidden since its huge and obvious hidden from the guardians of the site and was also Sharifulin entrance a hidden fact as well? If a photographer can sneak into the museum and exit it then how about those who are higher in status and more powerful inside the city like army, mercenaries and militias? In contrast, can UNESCO trust Sharifulin’s narrative take it to be true which still considers the regime and its institutions a legal authority and one that guards Syria’s ruins?
Sharifulin added in his story about Palmyra a new chapter talking about the moment he entered the museum through the hole, “It hadn’t been de-mined yet and none of the Syrian soldiers who were with us wanted to go in. Only one soldier did. He looked like an old man, when in fact he was about 40. His entire family was killed by the terrorists, his wife and children, all died. You could tell by looking at his face what he has been through.
He walked through the halls with us and he was very careful with the exhibits, he would pick up a book from the floor, dust it off and gently put it back on the shelf. He would pick up a crock and put it back on the shelf. It was clear that it was all very dear to him, like he came back home. It was very touching.”
Indeed, the dramatic scene drawn by Sharifulin with very dramatic words as if he is writing poetry especially the writing celebrates the beloved and the country.
How not and this 40-year-old soldier belongs to an army known for its honesty and its transcendent over public and private property, so how about touching a civilization legacy that is a property for all humanity! Then this soldier was taken by jealousy over a book and poetry piece which may not equal any of the pieces and statues which were robbed in front of his eyes or his colleague’s eyes from Palmyra museum and its secret tombs and were shipped in the gangs cars from regime army and inside and outside mercenaries to be documented as missing or added to ISIS record which is distinguished as being vast; meaning it has the ability to become more vast to include what ISIS did and did not do.
Sharifulin concluded his narrative with a hint to “It’s been said that working in hot spots is like an addictive drug. Yes, there is a feeling that during wartime you are doing something far more important than a photoshoot in Moscow, for example. It is hard to go back, but I haven’t noticed that I crave it like an adrenaline fix.
I am responsible for my family. I recently got married, and when my wife will be pregnant, I will try to act cautiously and try not to worry her, if only during that time. However, I try not to take unnecessary risks. I don’t go to places where the chances of getting out alive are slim, with picture worth that isn’t great.”
Note: all paragraphs below the Russian photographer quotes are commentary and explanation by Zaman al-Wasl.
(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Russian news agency TASS photographer, Valeriy Sharifulin, published recently a set of photos taken in regime-controlled areas of Aleppo, Damascus and Palmyra.
Sharifulin revealed through his commentary on the photos-probably without knowing- several important point. Most importantly, the semi-destruction of Palmyra museum and regime army officers escape from the camera and their insistence on hiding their faces during photography under pretext they have relatives whom they fear for their life since they live in rebel-controlled areas.
In The photos and comments published by Sharifulin and which Zaman al-Wasl looked through and investigated, the photographer talks in the beginning about Damascus where he visited the city after Russia intervention in Syria in September 2015. Later, he visited twice in February and March and his last visit was in April.
Sharifulin who initiated the group of photos with a photo of himself with a group of regime personnel drinking Mateh (some call it the official drink for Assad army), talked about Damascus as a “safe city” living a normal life except for “checkpoints and soldiers in the street”.
The Russian photographer made sure to take normal photos without any exceptional content like a photo taken inside al-Qishani store and another in a public bath, inside a restaurant. However, away from the center of the city, he focused his lens on children trying to avoid showing destruction which appeared despite of him.
Sharifulin moved to talk about his trip to Aleppo confirming his visited Aleppo twice and that it seems for real like Stalingrad (the Russian city which was completely destroyed in Second World War).
Comparing Aleppo to Stalingrad provokes more than one idea. Most importantly that it was the Russian city which was destroyed during a battle lasting less than 6 months, but Aleppo has been under daily bombing for 6 years with highly destructive missiles and bombs.
The Russian photographer indicated that Aleppo is opposite of Damascus. The sounds of explosions are always there without mentioning the source of these explosions.
Despite the large area of Aleppo and its importance and his saying he visited it twice, Sharifulin only showed two normal photos of Aleppo. One taken in Salah al-Din neighborhood and the other is a high and general capture of the city.
Regarding his visit to the Russian base in Hmeymim (Latakia countryside), he describes his tour there as the most interesting because “it documented in photos the daily life of the soldiers’ way from home.”
In contrast to his other trips in Syria which were under supervision of Ministry of Information and with personal guardianship, Sharifulin clarified that his visit to Hmeymim was supervised by Russian Defense Ministry (this step confirms the prevailing impression the base and its surrounding is a Russian colony that Bashar al-Assad has no control over)..
The Russian photographer pointed out that his movement and photoshoot in Hmeymim were planned and programmed by the Russian ministry and that he could not move without the knowledge of the press center subordinate to the ministry.
Sharifulin continued his talk about Hmeymim and what he saw there saying, “What struck me the most were the relationships between the people, very warm, full of comradery. It was obvious that people were bound together by what they did. I was also amazed by the level of organization. Everything was clear cut and professional. I didn’t see any bedlam there...And honestly, I felt a real sense of pride for our military.”
Sharifulin revealed in this paragraph the size of chaos, disintegration and deterioration which Russian forces are living in general. When he used the expression “I was struck” in his talking about the warmth of relations inside Hmeymim, that recalls immediately the image of an interview saying that the rest of Russian units suffer great deal in the individual relationships with each other. It seems the relationships are vengeful and aggressive and may be resembling the Assad army which most of its officers were trained in the Russian school.
When the Russian photographer returns to precede in his talk about the professionalism and organization in Hmeyime with the expression “I was struck”, that also recalls the image of chaos in the army’s units. Otherwise, he would not be amazed by what he saw in Hmeymim and he would not have concluded stressing that what he saw made him proud of Russian military which does not provoke pride nor admiration inside Russia.
Despite his elaborate talk about Hmeymim and the organization and warmth he saw there, Sharifulin only published 3 captions from there and can be considered less than average and perhaps “embarrassing”. One shows a Russian personnel doing exercise (the photo was taken as his face was facing the ground and cannot be recognized), the other was taken for a room in which there are 3 washing machines were placed in a form that is unorganized nor professional as it is the washing machine in Hmeymim base. Also, another photo was taken without showing the two military men who were among the staff.
Sharifulin talked clearly in the next paragraph and directly about regime officers escape from the camera and their being careful their faces are not shown. So, Sharifulin did not mention anything regarding that Hmeymim officers made sure they are not seen in the photos despite its their countryman who is taking their photos and a war correspondent who was trusted by the ministry of defense they belong to. Perhaps the closest interpretation for Sharifulin’ avoidance of talking about this is his fear of weakening Russians’ trust in their army because pointing out to faces’ hiding lead to think of the Russian soldier one way or another to be cowards.
Underestimating The Regime
Under the title “a story without a face”, Sharifulin addressed the “safety” issue in war adding, “Many Syrian military officers often asked not to show their faces, because they have relatives living in areas controlled by the terrorists. They could be recognized and killed.”
Sharifulin’s extraditable narrative to hide regime army officers seems interesting. On the one hand, even if we are to think it is true underestimates regime’s narrative about the strength of its personnel and soldiers and it presents them as cowards fearing the “terrorists” which they claim to fight day and night. On the other hand, it shows Russian ally irreverence and its resentment to the forces of the regime. It is an underestimation that will show practically and obviously in a later caption that documents killing of an officer and rescuing another senior one.
A moment that lies inside regime red lines and no one dares to take it-not to talk about publishing it- underestimating all the red lines of the regime and do not fear any accountability or reprehension for it.
Sharifulin allocated a paragraph to talk about his Syrian assistant pointing out that regime’s ministry of information put him with a choice to pick up the assistant he wants and he choose Bassem who speaks “excellent” Russian and holds a university degree.
The Russian photographer concluded his talk in this paragraph saying there is a necessity to obtain an official permit before taking photos in cases of being sent by the regime ministry of information or in a personal initiative. It seems “the personal initiative” is the one that got the Russian photographer to Efrin in what he called Syria’s Kurdistan according to him.
Sharifulin did not give many details about how he moved from regime-controlled areas to Syria’s Kurdistan finding it sufficient to say the matter was done by a deal with journalists present in the Kurdish side. He met with them in a checkpoint-he did not specify the checkpoint party- and they were moved to Efrin with a military and security envoy-again he did not say for which party.
The Russian photographer published only one caption from “Syria Kurdistan” for a group calling them Kurdish fighters near city of Izaz.
Sharifulin reached the paragraph in which he talked elaborately about his experience in Palmyra especially it came in conjunction with the battles between ISIS and regime forces and supporting militias in March 2016 and the battles ended between regime recapture of the city.
The Russian photographer indicated that everyone is trying to avoid sending journalists to clashes’ area including the party he works for because they do not want to be responsible in case the journalist was killed.
Sharifulin considered himself lucky to arrive in Palmyra in tandem with the outbreak of clashes to capture its historical citadel overlooking the city. He pointed out that he witnessed the recapture of the citadel and that the photos he took were of the highest value since there was a lot of risk involved in taking them.
He continued saying, “I was taking pictures of a Syrian fighter looking through his binoculars at Palmyra, when an antitank guided missile flew between us. It hit the wall shielding some soldiers, killing two Syrian generals.
Next to this paragraph, Sharifulin published a photo documenting the two killed generals, but with a comment that contradicts his talk and the photo itself. A comment says, “An injured soldier of the Syrian army at the Fahkr ad-Din al-Maani castle in Palmyra, March 26, 2016” whereas Sharifulin himself confirms the killing of two officers in addition to the photo which does not lie. The photo shows an officer lying on the floor with his blood and a higher rank officer and older in age carried by two personnel and beside them personnel from the sectarian militias.
On the other hand, the photo which clearly documents the killing of at least one officer provokes more than one question regarding the authorities giving to the Russians or which they give themselves without caring about anyone. These authorities permitted them to publish this photo knowing that if you are to search in all regime websites and pages for a photo of a killed solider or officer, you would not find any despite the fact that tens of thousands regime personnel have been killed. The reason is that publishing these photos is one of the banned things which regime does not allow or tolerate. Even the regime loyalists condemn and ban republishing of photos of any personnel the minute they were killed even if taken by opposition’s lens because they consider it a crime. Despite all of that, a Russian photographer seems to be able to override all red lines of the regime and its supporters as well as underestimate them.
Palmyra.. The Ghost Town
Sharifulin described Palmyra as a desolate town without civilians. He continued saying, “When the terrorists took over the city, anyone who hadn’t fled, or who didn’t fall in line with the IS mindset were slaughtered. Only die-hard ISIS supporters had remained there, but before the Syrian army regained the city, they had escaped far into the territories controlled by the terrorists. So, when the fighters were taken out, Palmyra turned into a ghost town.”
Sharifulin’s imagination seems vast and naïve at the same time. He claims that tens of thousands of Palmyra residents and population were hard loyalists for ISIS and that’s why they chose to flee to ISIS-controlled areas. They did not flee because they were scared the regime and its militias will massacre them nor they fled because they forcibly displaced in the aim of emptying the city of its resident for their property and houses to be looted by sectarian militias.
This poor Russian narrative does not care being conflicted with hundreds of witnesses or facts. The simplest one and most obvious is the existence of around 70000 displaced people in desert al-Rakban camp most of them are from Palmyra and its surrounding. Most of them preferred the hell of al-Rakban over the regime’s “heaven” and ISIS “bless” which they are accused with utter superficiality of cooperating with them.
Sharifulin continued in revealing one catastrophic aspect in Palmyra which is completely outside ISIS control and under regime-control. The Russian photographer claimed that he could not photograph the city’s museum during the first day of its “liberation” because he spent a lot of time in the frontline and photographing “what is left” from the historical city.
He added, “There was no time left for the museum, so we came back there several days later. My wife, at that time, my fiancée, Yulia Semenova, a TASS correspondent, was also there with me.
When we came to the museum and it was closed. We were told that they keys were taken to Damascus, so we lost all hope of getting in. And then, we got the idea to walk around the museum and there was a huge hole in the wall from where a shell hit it. So that’s how we got inside.”
One cannot avoid what Sharifulin narrated because first he is talking about a site that includes very important historical legacy and second there is a huge question mark on his statements. Let’s start from the issue of there was no time left to visit the museum and was it really like that or was it because the regime and Russian banned him from entering until they finished their “work” inside the museum. Or was it really lack of time. Then why Sharifulin did not come the next day and postponed his visit instead 7 days, (exactly 7 days.
The regime recaptured Palmyra on the 27 of March whereas Sharifulin visited and took the photos on 2 April as it appears on the photos). So how can we or anyone who is interested in human heritage which Palmyra represents can avoid this scandalous contradiction between a closed-door museum whose keys are far away in Damascus whereas its walls are open and available for entry. Was the regime unable to close the gaps in the walls during the “few days” which Sharifulin was absent off the city even with rubble and stones? And how those who are supposed to guard the museum say that the keys are in Damascus and that the photographer and his fiancé cannot enter and then by chance they enter through a hole in the wall. Was this hole hidden since its huge and obvious hidden from the guardians of the site and was also Sharifulin entrance a hidden fact as well? If a photographer can sneak into the museum and exit it then how about those who are higher in status and more powerful inside the city like army, mercenaries and militias? In contrast, can UNESCO trust Sharifulin’s narrative take it to be true which still considers the regime and its institutions a legal authority and one that guards Syria’s ruins?
Sharifulin added in his story about Palmyra a new chapter talking about the moment he entered the museum through the hole, “It hadn’t been de-mined yet and none of the Syrian soldiers who were with us wanted to go in. Only one soldier did. He looked like an old man, when in fact he was about 40. His entire family was killed by the terrorists, his wife and children, all died. You could tell by looking at his face what he has been through.
He walked through the halls with us and he was very careful with the exhibits, he would pick up a book from the floor, dust it off and gently put it back on the shelf. He would pick up a crock and put it back on the shelf. It was clear that it was all very dear to him, like he came back home. It was very touching.”
Indeed, the dramatic scene drawn by Sharifulin with very dramatic words as if he is writing poetry especially the writing celebrates the beloved and the country.
How not and this 40-year-old soldier belongs to an army known for its honesty and its transcendent over public and private property, so how about touching a civilization legacy that is a property for all humanity! Then this soldier was taken by jealousy over a book and poetry piece which may not equal any of the pieces and statues which were robbed in front of his eyes or his colleague’s eyes from Palmyra museum and its secret tombs and were shipped in the gangs cars from regime army and inside and outside mercenaries to be documented as missing or added to ISIS record which is distinguished as being vast; meaning it has the ability to become more vast to include what ISIS did and did not do.
Sharifulin concluded his narrative with a hint to “It’s been said that working in hot spots is like an addictive drug. Yes, there is a feeling that during wartime you are doing something far more important than a photoshoot in Moscow, for example. It is hard to go back, but I haven’t noticed that I crave it like an adrenaline fix.
I am responsible for my family. I recently got married, and when my wife will be pregnant, I will try to act cautiously and try not to worry her, if only during that time. However, I try not to take unnecessary risks. I don’t go to places where the chances of getting out alive are slim, with picture worth that isn’t great.”
Note: all paragraphs below the Russian photographer quotes are commentary and explanation by Zaman al-Wasl.
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