With the start of its military intervention in Syria, Russia under Vladimir Putin officially became a decisive actor in the crisis that had afflicted the Arab country for four and a half years.
This came after the US-led international coalition and its war against the Islamic State organization had proved ineffective, in the article’s assessment. It also followed significant battlefield setbacks for Moscow’s ally, President Bashar Al-Assad, whose military control had contracted to Damascus, Homs, and the coastal strip—about one quarter of Syria’s territory.
Initial reactions suggested that Russian intervention, coordinated beforehand with Iran and its local allies according to the secretary general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, had surprised the United States. Washington was forced into operational coordination with Russian Defense Ministry officials after Russian aircraft were deployed to Latakia in late September 2015. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also entered the discussion at the same time, visiting Moscow to seek protection for what he regarded as Israel’s security interests in Syria.
The Russian intervention, undertaken under the banner of fighting terrorism, marked a turning point whether it restored Assad’s position or merely limited his losses. Its implications ranged from reassuring Christians in Syria and Iraq who had been threatened with jizya taxation to pursuing Chechen and other Caucasian fighters in Islamic State before they could return to Russia.
Al Jazeera Net examines the possible outcomes of Russia’s military involvement in the Syrian war through profiles and reports on the roots of Russian and Soviet presence in this Arab country and its current military and cultural forms. It also outlines Russia’s positions in the Security Council that protected Assad’s government during the revolution’s early years.