Sen. Chris Coons says Putin is unleashing a 'massacre' and worries that Ukraine will 'turn into Syria'

• Sen. Chris Coons said Ukraine might turn into Syria if Russian soldiers continue their invasion.
• Syria has become a site of violence and extreme poverty following a devastating 11-year war.

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said on Sunday that he worries Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops will turn Ukraine into war-torn Syria if the war persists without Western intervention.

During an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation," the Democratic lawmaker said Putin has "shown us how brutal he can be" and has been allowed to "just continue to massacre civilians, to commit war crimes throughout Ukraine."

Coons suggested there hasn't been sufficient interference from NATO and Western countries.

"I deeply worry that what's going to happen next is we'll see Ukraine turn into Syria," he said.

An 11-year ongoing war in Syria has turned the country into a site of violence, with hundreds of thousands of people dead and millions displaced, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The poverty rate in Syria has reached "an unprecedented 90 percent," UN human rights investigators said in March.

Western countries have given military assistance to Ukraine, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on those countries to boost military weaponry to his troops.

Coons on Sunday suggested the US has an interest in Ukraine prevailing.

"The American people cannot turn away from this tragedy in Ukraine," he said. "I think the history of the 21st century turns on how fiercely we defend freedom in Ukraine and that Putin will only stop when we stop him."

—Margaret Brennan (@margbrennan) April 17, 2022

Ukraine and Russia have been at war since February 24.

The Russian invasion has driven out millions of Ukrainians, forcing them to flee their homeland. So far, more than 4.8 million Ukrainians have escaped since the beginning of the invasion, according to data from the United Nations Refugee Agency. In the first week alone, more than 1 million Ukrainians left.

Ukrainians who spoke to Insider over the course of the ongoing invasion have painted a grim picture of the devastation. They've described hearing missiles fire through the sky in the dead of night, having to share a single bulletproof vest as Russian soldiers tear through their towns, and troops shooting at homes and hospitals.