Russian President Vladimir Putin is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and, according to the non-profit watchdog group Airwars, Russian airstrikes are responsible for the deaths of as many as 23,000 Syrian civilians.

For Syrians watching from afar, the parallels in Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine are unsettling. Borzou Daragahi, International Correspondent for The Independent, recently traveled to the opposition held Idlib province and spoke to Syrians about how they’re processing the invasion of Ukraine.