Ukraine's National Guard slammed for spreading 'fake news' on Russia's devastating assault on Syria

The National Guard of Ukraine has been criticised for spreading disinformation on the Syrian war on its social media channels.

Ukraine's gendarmerie shared an image to help the world "realise the scale of disaster" Russia's brutal invasion has had on the country.

The infograph states that only 100 missiles targeted Syrian towns and cities over the past five years while around 1,100 missiles have rained down on Ukraine in just 22 days.

Russia intervened in the Syria war backing the Assad regime in September 2015, launching devastating air strikes on opposition areas killing thousands.

Syria monitors and activists slammed the figure given by the national guard as "inaccurate" and "impossible".

"Approximately 10,000 Russian missiles [alone] have been shelled in Syria... as a minimum [since 2015 when Moscow intervened]," Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) chairman Fadel Abdul Ghani told The New Arab.

He said while it is difficult to determine the exact number of missiles fired on Syria, due to the sheer scale of the disaster in the war-torn country, it will be far greater than the one given by the Ukrainian National Guard.

"Russian attacks against Syrians are far heavier than those against Ukraine and I don't wish that Ukraine is subjected to the same level of Russian attacks as Syrians," Abdul Ghani added.

He also acknowledged that both Syrian and Ukrainian civilians are victims of Russian "inhumanity".

The National Guard's tweet angered activists who asked Ukraine to "stand together" with Syrian victims rather than comparing trauma.

Some labeled the tweet an "outright lie" and "vile".

Це постріл собі в ногу. Такими твітами ви виставляєте себе й нас заразом неосвідченими расистами. 1) це фактологічно невірно. 2) мірятися людськими стражданнями — ідіотизм за замовчуванням. Подивіться на реакцію у людей по всьому світу. Явно не те, на що ви сподівалися

— Alona Savchuk (@al_savchuk) March 24, 2022

"With such tweets, you present yourself and us as inexperienced racists... this is factually incorrect," a Ukrainian Journalist, Alona Savchuk, tweeted.

At least 977 civilians have been killed in Ukraine following Russia's invasion on 24 February, according to the UN human rights office (OHCHR).

Over 350,000 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the 2011 Syrian uprising according to UN Human Rights Chief Michele Bachelet, who also admitted that the figure was "certainly an undercount".

It is widely believed that at least 500,000 Syrians have been killed since the start of the 2011 uprising, the vast majority civilians from Russian and regime airstrikes and shelling.

At least 6,928 Syrian civilians were killed by Russian forces in Syria, while 200,367 were at the hands of Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias, according to data released by SNHR.

The New Arab contacted the Ukrainian National Guard for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.