ALEPPO, Syria — The city of Anadan in the northern Aleppo countryside seemed empty when Al-Monitor visited Feb. 17 — with the exception of some citizens who returned to inspect their houses and a few fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) who stayed to defend their land.

The Russian raids and regime forces’ offensives against Aleppo Feb. 1 forced hundreds of thousands of the residents in the northern Aleppo countryside to flee, as the regime forces took control of about a dozen towns, which cut the opposition’s strategic supply line connecting the Bab al-Salameh border crossing to Aleppo.

No one was in the streets. The rubble of destroyed houses caused by Russian airstrikes was found in all directions. It was similar to a ghost town, where only a whistling wind is heard through doors and windows.

Most of the shops in Anadan city square, which is a main shopping center, were burned and blackened because of the bombardment. This place used to be crowded with shoppers from different towns. Now the only things that remain are distress and sadness for the people who fled.