BEIRUT (AP) — A father saying his last goodbye to his dead child, before the shelling starts again.

It's a grief shared by all too many parents trapped with their children under a brutal, government siege of the eastern Ghouta region outside the Syrian capital of Damascus. The government, backed by Russia, is determined to bring the once rebellious region back under its authority.

In one poignant video shared by residents inside, a father who isn't identified picks up the shrouded body of a child from the back of a truck and holds him close to his chest. Someone off camera tells others around...