In Ukraine, Putin Repeating Syria, Chechnya Destruction, Images Show

The memories of bloody sieges of Aleppo in Syria and Chechen capital Grozny, both razed on Putin's orders, now haunt the Ukrainian cities being shelled by Russia.

Images of devastation from the Ukrainian cities like Mariupol, Chernihiv and Kharkiv bring back memories of the bloody sieges of Aleppo in Syria and the Chechen capital Grozny, both razed on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Aleppo

The Syrian regime backed by Russian air power retook the key rebel bastion of Aleppo in December 2016 after a siege whose final bloody weeks cost 1,867 lives.

Syria's economic capital had been divided between districts loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the west and rebel-controlled areas in the east.