Jump to content

Main menu Navigation ●Main page ●Contents ●Current events ●Random article ●About Wikipedia ●Contact us ●Donate Contribute ●Help ●Learn to edit ●Community portal ●Recent changes ●Upload file

●Create account ●Log in ●Create account ● Log in Pages for logged out editors learn more ●Contributions ●Talk

Editing Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war

●Article ●Talk ●Read ●Edit ●View history Tools Actions ●Read ●Edit ●View history General ●What links here ●Related changes ●Upload file ●Special pages ●Page information ●Get shortened URL ●Download QR code ●Wikidata item Appearance Page notice

Editors must not make more than one revert per 24 hours (subject to exceptions)

Breaching the restriction on this page may result in a block or other sanctions. In addition, please note that because this topic area has been disrupted in the past, the community has authorised administrators to take appropriate steps to ensure the smooth running of all pages related to the Syrian Civil War and ISIL. Conduct which does not adhere to our policies and standards of behaviour may be met with sanctions. Please edit carefully.

You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log inorcreate an account, your edits will be attributed to a username, among other benefits.

Content that violates any copyrights will be deleted. Encyclopedic content must be verifiable through citations to reliable sources.

You are about to undo an edit. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.

If you are undoing an edit that is not vandalism, explain the reason in the edit summary. Do not use the default message only.

{{Short description|Involvement of Russia in the Syrian civil war}}
{{for|the intervention since 2015| Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war}}
{{Use dmy dates|date= December 2016}}
[[File:Russia Syria Locator.svg|alt= A grey world map with Russia and Syria highlighted|thumb|400px|Russia (green) and Syria (orange)]]
{{Campaignbox Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War}}
{{History of Russia}}

[[Russia]] has supported the administration of incumbent [[President of Syria|President]] [[Bashar al-Assad]] of [[Syria]] since the beginning of the [[Syrian Civil War|Syrian conflict]] in 2011: politically, with military aid, and (since September 2015) with [[Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War|direct military involvement]]. The 2015 deployment to Syria marked the first time since the end of the [[Cold War]] in 1991 that Russia entered an armed conflict outside the borders of the former [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="reutersghosts">{{cite news|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-insight-idUSKBN12Y0M6|title= Ghost soldiers: the Russians secretly dying for the Kremlin in Syria|publisher= Reuters|author1= Tsvetkova, Maria |author2= Zverev, Anton|access-date=4 November 2016|date=3 November 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161103235719/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-insight-idUSKBN12Y0M6|archive-date=3 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

From October 2011, Russia, as a [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|permanent member]] of the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]], repeatedly [[United Nations Security Council veto power|vetoed]] [[Western world|Western]]-sponsored draft resolutions in the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] that demanded the resignation of Syrian President [[Bashar al-Assad]] and that opened the possibility of [[United Nations]] [[Economic sanctions|sanction]]s against his government.<ref name=guardunlegit>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/23/russian-vetoes-putting-un-security-council-legitimacy-at-risk-says-us|title= Russian vetoes are putting UN security council's legitimacy at risk, says US|work=The Guardian|access-date=10 January 2016|date=23 September 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190517013841/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/23/russian-vetoes-putting-un-security-council-legitimacy-at-risk-says-us|archive-date=17 May 2019|url-status=live | quote = Russia has used its veto powers four times to block resolutions on Syria that Moscow sees as damaging to its ally, the regime of Bashar al-Assad.}}</ref><ref name=Itar-Tass27-1-12/> The Russian leadership rejects the demands of Western powers and their Arab allies that Bashar al-Assad should not be allowed to be a participant in the [[Syrian Civil War peace process|Syria settlement]].<ref name=UN.GA.2015/><ref name=guard.9Oc/><ref name=bbc3Oct/> In January and February 2012, the opposition [[Syrian National Council]]<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url= http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/30/191474.html|title= Russia says Syria agrees to peace talks with opposition amid mounting pressures|date=30 January 2012|access-date=29 November 2013|publisher=[[Al Arabiya]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131203030948/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/30/191474.html|archive-date= 3 December 2013}}</ref> and the Western powers<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/west-ignored-russian-offer-in-2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside |title= West 'ignored Russian offer in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside'|first= Julian|last= Borger|work= The Guardian|date= 15 September 2015|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161008083307/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/west-ignored-russian-offer-in-2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside|archive-date=8 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> dismissed Russian peace initiatives.

In September 2015 the [[Federation Council (Russia)|Federation Council]], (the [[upper house]] of [[Federal Assembly (Russia)|Russia's parliament]]) authorized the [[President of Russia|Russian president]] to use [[Russian Armed Forces|armed forces]] in Syria.<ref name=csm-20151014>{{cite news |url= http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/1014/Why-isn-t-Russia-singling-out-ISIS-in-Syria-Because-it-never-said-it-would |title= Why isn't Russia singling out ISIS in Syria? Because it never said it would |first= Fred |last= Weir |newspaper= Christian Science Monitor |date= 14 October 2015 |access-date=17 October 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151016232806/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/1014/Why-isn-t-Russia-singling-out-ISIS-in-Syria-Because-it-never-said-it-would |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Russian air and missile strikes began targeting the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL), the [[Army of Conquest]], [[al-Nusra Front]], and the [[Free Syrian Army]].<ref name=bbc3Oct>{{cite news|title= Syrian crisis: Russia air strikes 'strengthen IS'|work= BBC News|date= 2 October 2015|url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34431027|access-date=3 October 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151003035655/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34431027|archive-date=3 October 2015|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name=aoc>{{cite news|last1= Hubbard|first1= Ben|title= A Look at the Army of Conquest, a Prominent Rebel Alliance in Syria|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes-rebels-army-conquest-jaish-al-fatah.html?_r=0|access-date=3 October 2015|work=The New York Times|date=1 October 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151025235415/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes-rebels-army-conquest-jaish-al-fatah.html?_r=0|archive-date=25 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Russia has also provided armament and air support to [[Turkey]] and to the [[Syrian Democratic Forces]] in their operations against ISIL in Syria.<ref>{{cite news |last1= Gordon |first1= Michael R. |last2= Schmitt |first2= Eric |title=Airstrikes by Russia Buttress Turkey in Battle vs. ISIS |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/08/us/politics/russia-turkey-syria-airstrikes-isis.html?_r=0 |website=New York Times |date= 9 January 2017 |access-date= 26 February 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170518132238/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/08/us/politics/russia-turkey-syria-airstrikes-isis.html?_r=0 |archive-date= 18 May 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Solmaz |first1= Mehmet |title=Russia-Turkey row visible in northern Syria |url=https://www.orient-news.net/en/news_show/109775/0/Russia-Turkey-row-visible-in-northern-Syria |website=Orient-news.net |language=en |access-date=8 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011112518/https://www.orient-news.net/en/news_show/109775/0/Russia-Turkey-row-visible-in-northern-Syria |archive-date=11 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the course of the Russian intervention, Russia moved beyond bombing just military targets and began [[Russian–Syrian hospital bombing campaign|bombing hospitals and medical facilities]].<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/russian-hand-seen-behind-increased-bombing-syrian-hospitals-n847961 Russian hand seen behind increased bombing of Syrian hospitals] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181016120611/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/russian-hand-seen-behind-increased-bombing-syrian-hospitals-n847961 |date= 16 October 2018 }}. ''NBC News''. Retrieved 16 October 2018.</ref> According to [[Airwars]], between four and six thousand civilians were killed by the Russian Military actions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Russian Military in Syria |url=https://airwars.org/conflict/russian-military-in-syria/ |website=Airwars |access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="34%rise" >[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-rise-civilian-deaths-russian-bombing-a8463776.html Syria conflict: 34% rise in civilian deaths caused by Russian airstrikes, report finds] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181016180503/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-rise-civilian-deaths-russian-bombing-a8463776.html |date=16 October 2018 }}. ''Independent''. Retrieved 16 October 2018.</ref> Due to this, Russia's seat at the [[United Nations Human Rights Council|UN Human Rights Council]] was taken away in October 2016.<ref>
[https://thediplomat.com/2016/10/russia-loses-seat-at-the-un-human-rights-council/ Russia Loses Seat at the UN Human Rights Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016165219/https://thediplomat.com/2016/10/russia-loses-seat-at-the-un-human-rights-council/ |date=16 October 2018 }}. ''The Diplomat''. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
</ref>
A report by [[Airwars]] found a 34% increase in incidents of civilian harm caused by Russia during the first six months of 2018 compared to 2017.<ref name="34%rise" />

==Background==

===History of ties between Syria and Russia===
{{main|Russia–Syria relations}}
[[File:Dmitry Medvedev in Syria 11 May 2010-4.jpeg|thumb|right|Dmitry Medvedev in a joint press conference with the Syrian President following Russo-Syrian talks in May 2010]]
During the [[Cold War]] (1947–1991), Syria was an ally to the [[Soviet Union]] in opposition to the Western powers, and a strong political bond grew.<ref name="foreign affairs">{{cite news | first = Dmitri | last = Trenin | title = Russia's Line in the Sand on Syria: Why Moscow Wants To Halt the Arab Spring | date = 5 February 2012 | url = http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137078/dmitri-trenin/russias-line-in-the-sand-on-syria | work = Foreign Affairs.com | access-date = 15 March 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120310225410/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137078/dmitri-trenin/russias-line-in-the-sand-on-syria | archive-date = 10 March 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref> Between 1955 and 1958, Syria received about $294&nbsp;million from the Soviet Union for military and economic assistance.<ref name="Kreutz">{{cite book | last1 = Kreutz | first1 = Andrej | title = Russia in the Middle East: friend or foe? | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group | year = 2007 | location = Westport, Connecticut }}</ref> The [[Suez War]] in 1956 accelerated a multiplication of ties between Syria and the Soviet Union, simultaneously with the increase in power and influence of the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Ba'ath Party]].<ref>A History of the Middle East, [[Peter Mansfield (historian)|Peter Mansfield]], Penguin 2010, 3rd edition, p.293 {{ISBN|978-0-718-19231-0}}</ref>

The [[1966 Syrian coup d'état|Syrian Revolution]] of February 1966 gave the Soviet Union the opportunity to further support Syria. In 1971, under an agreement with the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Ba'athist government]]'s President [[Hafez al-Assad]], the Soviet Union was allowed to open its [[Russian naval facility in Tartus|naval military base in Tartus]], giving the Soviet Union a stable presence in the Middle East.<ref>International New York Times, 3 October 2015.</ref><ref name="Breslauer">{{cite book | last1 = Breslauer | first1 = George W. | title = Soviet Strategy in the Middle East | year = 1990 | location = Boston, Massachusetts }}</ref> Thousands of Syrian military officers and educated professionals studied in Russia during President Hafez al-Assad's three-decade rule (1971–2000).<ref>{{cite web |last1= Peel |first1= Michael |last2= Clover |first2= Charles |date= 9 July 2012 |title= Syria and Russia's 'special relationship' |url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e64a3076-c9b2-11e1-a5e2-00144feabdc0.html |work= Financial Times |access-date= 11 July 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120724044040/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e64a3076-c9b2-11e1-a5e2-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date= 24 July 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref>

In April 1977, Hafez al-Assad visited Moscow, and met with Soviet leaders [[Leonid Brezhnev]] and [[Alexei Kosygin]] among others, as a sign of improved Syrian relations with the USSR. Three years later, in October 1980, Syria and the Soviet Union signed a twenty-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.<ref name="Middle East Chronology">{{cite book | last1 = Lea | first1 = David | title = A Political Chronology of the Middle East | publisher = Europa Publications | year = 2001 | location = London, United Kingdom }}</ref>

At the beginning of the [[Syrian civil war]] (2011), Syria was one of [[Russia]]'s closest Middle Eastern allies.

===Syrian civil war===
{{see also|Syrian civil war|Vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions on Syria}}
[[File:Bashar al-Assad (cropped).jpg|[[Bashar al-Assad]], Syrian President since 2000| thumb | right|upright]]
The Syrian Civil War is an ongoing international armed conflict taking place in [[Syria]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=International conflict|title=Iran to join, Russia already bombing Opposition's positions.|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-syria-idUSKCN0RV41O20151002|website=Reuters.com|date=2 October 2015|agency=Reuters|access-date=4 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004054220/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/02/us-mideast-crisis-russia-syria-idUSKCN0RV41O20151002|archive-date=4 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War|unrest]] began in the early spring of 2011 within the context of [[Arab Spring]] protests, with nationwide protests against President [[Bashar al-Assad]]'s government, whose forces responded with violent crackdowns. The civil uprising phase created the platform for the emergence of militant opposition movements and massive defections from the Syrian Army, which gradually transformed the conflict from a civil uprising to an armed rebellion, and later civil war. The rebel [[Free Syrian Army]] was created on 29 July 2011 and from then on, the struggle took the shape of an armed insurgency, with civil resistance disbanded and opposition members turning to arms. Many factions arose, either as break-offs of the Free Syrian Army or spontaneously in their own rights.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/02/22/bombardment-syria-s-homs-kills-21-people.html |title=Bombardment of Syria's homeless kills 21 people|author=Khaled Yacoub Oweis |author2=Erika Solomon |agency=Reuters|date=22 February 2012|access-date=21 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003043133/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/02/22/bombardment-syria-s-homs-kills-21-people.html|archive-date=3 October 2013}}</ref>

The [[killing of Muammar Gaddafi]] in [[Libya]] reportedly left a particularly strong and consequential impression on Putin. A senior diplomat who had served at the U.S. embassy in Moscow under the Obama administration reportedly claimed that "Putin had been appalled by Gaddafi's fate"<ref name=Hersh>[[Seymour Hersh]], [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n01/seymour-m-hersh/military-to-military 'Military to Military,'] [[London Review of Books]], Vol. 38 No. 1,7 January 2016 pp.11–14. Retrieved 13 May 2016.</ref> to the extent that "Putin had watched a video of Gaddafi's savage death three times, a video that shows him being sodomised with a bayonet."<ref name=Hersh/> Referring to the U.S. coalition's lobbying efforts for the airstrikes at the United Nations, the U.S. diplomat was quoted as saying that a later U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that "Putin blamed himself for letting Gaddafi go, for not playing a strong role behind the scenes" and that the video may have even influenced Putin's decision to support Syrian president [[Bashar al-Assad]] since "Putin believed that unless he got engaged Bashar would suffer the same fate – mutilated – and he'd see the destruction of his allies in Syria."<ref name=Hersh/>

By 2012 it was reported the U.S. was running a covert operation in aid of militant groups fighting the [[Assad government]].<ref>{{cite news|author1=Jay Solomon|author2=Nour Malas|name-list-style=amp|title=U.S. Bolsters Ties to Fighters in Syria|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303410404577464763551149048|website=Wall Street Journal|date=14 June 2012|access-date=17 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015225523/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303410404577464763551149048|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Mark|last=Landler|title=U.S. Considers Resuming Nonlethal Aid to Syrian Opposition|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/world/middleeast/syria-aid-may-resume-despite-fears-over-where-it-will-go.html|website=New York Times|date=10 January 2014|access-date=17 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720141438/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/world/middleeast/syria-aid-may-resume-despite-fears-over-where-it-will-go.html|archive-date=20 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 6 March 2013, the Arab League gave its members the green light to arm the Syrian rebels.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.albawaba.com/news/arab-league-syria-475662 |title=Arab league allows members to arm rebels and offers seat to opposition |publisher=Al Bawaba |date=9 February 2013 |access-date=8 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309221836/http://www.albawaba.com/news/arab-league-syria-475662 |archive-date=9 March 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 26 March 2013, at the [[Arab league summit 2013|Arab league summit]] in [[Doha]], the League recognised the [[National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces]], as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-03/26/c_132263388.htm |title=Arab League summit opens in Doha with focus on Syrian crisis – Xinhua &#124; English.news.cn |publisher=News.xinhuanet.com |date=26 March 2013 |access-date=29 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528174039/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-03/26/c_132263388.htm |archive-date=28 May 2013 }}</ref>

Since 2014, a significant part of Syria's territory had been [[ISIL territorial claims|claimed]] by [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]] (ISIL), an entity internationally [[List of designated terrorist groups|recognised as a terrorist organization]]; a number of Western and other countries, most notably the U.S., Britain and France, began to participate in direct [[Military intervention against ISIL|military action against ISIL]] in the territory of Syria.

==Presumed motives==

===Military facilities===
{{further|Russia–Syria relations#Russian naval base Tartus|Russian naval facility in Tartus}}
The [[Russian naval facility in Tartus]] in Syria is Russia's only naval facility in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] region and only remaining military facility outside the former USSR. In March 2012, critics saw the position of the naval facility in Tartus as a chief motivating factor for Russia to speak out in favor of the Assad government maintaining stability in the region.{{Clarify|reason=Which "critics" say the position of Tartus is chief motivating factor for speaking out in favor of Assad?|date=October 2015}}<ref name="Economist"/><ref name="2012 CRS Report">{{citation | contribution = Unrest in Syria and U.S. Sanctions Against the Asad Regime | title = CRS Report for Congress | editor-first = Jeremy M. | editor-last = Sharp | editor2= Christopher M. Blanchard | publisher = Congressional Research Service | place = Washington, DC | date=26 March 2012 }}</ref>

===Russian jihadists in Syria===
{{further|Foreign rebel fighters in the Syrian Civil War#Chechnya and Russia}}
At least since mid 2013, Chechen and other Russian [[North Caucasus]] volunteers have been fighting in the Syrian Civil War against the government of [[Bashar al-Assad]].<ref>"[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-russia-militants-idUSBRE9251BT20130306 Militants from Russia's North Caucasus join "jihad" in Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121070432/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/us-syria-crisis-russia-militants-idUSBRE9251BT20130306 |date=21 November 2015 }}". Reuters. 6 March 2013.</ref> 
''The Washington Post'' in 2014 reported that Moscow was concerned about such fighters returning to Russia after having picked up militant contacts in Syria.<ref>"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/03/why-being-chechen-is-a-badge-of-honor-for-islamist-militants/ Why being Chechen is a badge of honor for Islamist militants] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820105823/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/03/why-being-chechen-is-a-badge-of-honor-for-islamist-militants/ |date=20 August 2018 }}". ''The Washington Post''. 3 July 2014.</ref>

As of September 2015, an estimated 2,500 Russian nationals were fighting alongside [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIL]],<ref>"[http://www.ibtimes.com/security-service-moscow-airport-detains-siberian-man-suspected-join-isis-syria-2111685 Security Service At Moscow Airport Detains Siberian Man Suspected To Join ISIS In Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216210620/http://www.ibtimes.com/security-service-moscow-airport-detains-siberian-man-suspected-join-isis-syria-2111685 |date=16 February 2018 }}". ''IBTimes''. 24 September 2015.</ref>
and President Putin declared that their return to Russia would be a threat to Russia, and that it would be better to fight them on Syrian ground.<ref name=indep9Oct/>

===Economic importance and history of arms sales===
{{further|Russia–Syria relations#Economic relations}}

Russia has been able to showcase its old and new weapons in the conflict which helped boost its arms sales to $15bn in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mirovalev |first1=Mansur |title=Syria's war: A showroom for Russian arms sales |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/4/6/syrias-war-a-showroom-for-russian-arms-sales |access-date=24 May 2021 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=6 Apr 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sharkov |first1=Damien |title=Putin's Syria Campaign Could Boost Russian Arms Sales by $7 Billion |url=https://www.newsweek.com/putins-syria-campaign-could-boost-russian-arms-sales-441608 |access-date=24 May 2021 |publisher=Newsweek |date=29 March 2016}}</ref>

Russian economic interests in Syria, including arms sales, are offered as one of the reasons for its support of the government. However, according to ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', economic considerations are of less importance than geopolitical ones.<ref name="foreign affairs"/> This is especially due to the fact that many Syrian arms purchases are financed by loans.<ref>{{cite news |last=Herszenhorn |first=David |date=18 February 2012 |title=For Syria, Reliant on Russia for Weapons and Food, Old Bonds Run Deep |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/world/middleeast/for-russia-and-syria-bonds-are-old-and-deep.html |work=The New York Times |location=para. 33 |access-date=23 May 2021}}</ref>

==Casualties==
{{Main|Russian Armed Forces casualties in Syria}}
Many Russian soldiers have died during the war. Russian officials estimate that as of January 2019, 112 soldiers have been killed since troops were sent to fight in Syria in 2015. The [[BBC]] has a higher estimation of 175 deaths having occurred from 2015 to the end of 2018.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In 2019, the Russian Armed Forces were accused of covering up the death one of its soldiers, [[junior sergeant]] Andranik Arustamyan. However, Arustamyan's family has defended the military and said that they were informed of his death.<ref name="The Moscow Times">{{cite web |title=Russia Covered up Soldier's Death in Syria, Media Reports |url=https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-covered-up-soldier-death-in-syria-media-reports-64084 |website=The Moscow Times |access-date=10 January 2019 |language=en |date=9 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127024233/https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-covered-up-soldier-death-in-syria-media-reports-64084 |archive-date=27 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Political efforts and statements==

===2011===
At the end of May 2011, the Russian Foreign Minister [[Sergei Lavrov]] said that Russia opposed United Nations' involvement in Syria because "the situation doesn't present a threat to international peace and security ... Syria is a very important country in the Middle East and destabilizing Syria would have repercussions far beyond its borders", and asserted that Assad had made attempts at major reform.<ref name=RussWarn>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-01/russia-warns-u-s-nato-against-military-aid-to-syria-protests-after-libya.html |title=Russia Warns U.S., NATO Against Military Aid to Syria Protests After Libya |date=2 June 2011 |access-date=28 June 2011 |publisher=Bloomberg |first1=Henry |last1=Meyer |first2=Brad |last2=Cook |first3=Ilya |last3=Arkhipov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604225647/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-01/russia-warns-u-s-nato-against-military-aid-to-syria-protests-after-libya.html |archive-date=4 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June, both the US and other Western governments<ref>{{cite news|url=http://newsleaks.in/us-seeks-russias-cooperation-over-syria-resolution/|title=US seeks Russia's cooperation over Syria resolution|publisher=Newsleaks.com|date=18 June 2011|access-date=4 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312022540/http://newsleaks.in/us-seeks-russias-cooperation-over-syria-resolution/|archive-date=12 March 2014}}</ref> as well as Syrian protesters<ref name=RussBurning>Al Jazeera Syria Live Blog: Saturday, 11 June 2011 – 10:33. http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-jun-11-2011-1133. Also at youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTmd5MFmhQc&feature=player_embedded {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015222848/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTmd5MFmhQc&feature=player_embedded |date=15 October 2015 }}</ref> prevailed upon Russia to change its position, and finally a Syrian anti-government delegation visited Moscow and met with Russian envoy [[Mikhail Margelov]], who after the meeting noted that "leaders come and go" and called for "an end to any and all forms of violence", which some interpreted to be a shift away from Assad, once a major ally, in foreign policy.<ref name="RussShift?">{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43566250|publisher=NBC News|title=Russian envoy calls for end to violence in Syria|date=28 June 2011|access-date=4 October 2015}}</ref>
"A harder line from Russia would be a blow to Syria which relies heavily on Russian military equipment and has long-standing ties to Moscow", the American [[NBC|nbc]]news.com wrote that day.<ref name="RussShift?"/>

On 19 July, [[Prime Minister of Russia|Russian Prime minister]], [[Dmitri Medvedev]] said he was working with [[Chancellor of Germany (1949–)|German Chancellor]] [[Angela Merkel]] to find consensus for a strategy to persuade the Syrian government to abandon violence and begin a constructive dialogue with protesters. He did not threaten to use Russia's veto at the [[United Nations Security Council]] to oppose a resolution critical of the Syrian government, as Russia has previously said it could do. Medvedev also said it was imperative that Syria not slide into civil war the way [[2011 Libyan civil war|Libya did in 2011]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Juergen|last=Baetz|agency=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=19 July 2011|access-date=20 July 2011|url=http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OIQTLG0.htm|title=Medvedev: Syria must not go the same way as Libya|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721121314/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OIQTLG0.htm|archive-date=21 July 2011}}</ref>

Amid the [[Siege of Hama (2011)|siege of Hama]], the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 1 August documenting deaths in Hama as well as condemning the violence, including the alleged killing of eight policemen by Assad's government. The statement beseeched the pro-Assad forces as well as the violent protesters to "exercise maximum restraint".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mid.ru/bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/a6f2cf5b8636e3e1c32578e0001e0d08!OpenDocument|publisher=Ministry of Foreign affairs of the Russian Federation|date=1 August 2011|access-date=3 August 2011|title=Russian MFA Press and Information Department Comment on the Situation in Syria|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809032038/http://www.mid.ru/bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/a6f2cf5b8636e3e1c32578e0001e0d08!OpenDocument|archive-date=9 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 3 August, Russian UN ambassador [[Vitaly Churkin]] stated that Russia will not oppose a UN resolution condemning the violence in Syria as long as it does not include sanctions or other "pressures".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2011/08/03/russia-hardens-stance-on-syria|title=Russia hardens stance on Syria|agency=Reuters|publisher=Times Live|date=3 August 2011|access-date=4 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804164849/http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2011/08/03/russia-hardens-stance-on-syria|archive-date=4 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] reported that Russia had "softened the blow" to the Assad government by insisting successfully that the UN would make a statement rather than a resolution on the matter.<ref>Al Jazeera Libya Live Blog. "[http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-aug-4-2011-0732 Syria – Aug 4, 2011 – 07:32] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825040747/http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-aug-4-2011-0732 |date=25 August 2011 }}"</ref>
On 23 August, the Russian delegation to the UN, along with those of China and Cuba, took to the floor to denounce a UN inquiry into human rights violations by the Assad government.<ref name="InquiryandVisit">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-idUSTRE77D0LP20110823|title=U.S. envoy visits Syria town, U.N. launches inquiry|author=Khaled Yacoub Oweis|work=Reuters|date=23 August 2011|access-date=30 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830235151/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/23/us-syria-idUSTRE77D0LP20110823|archive-date=30 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> Vitaly Churkin stated that "We hope to see progress, we hope to see dialogue established in Syria. ... We think we should continue to work within the scope of that unified position."<ref name="RussNoWantSanctions">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-un-russia-idUSTRE77M7PR20110823|title=Russian U.N. envoy says not time for Syria sanctions|first=Louis|last=Charbonneau|work=Reuters|date=23 August 2011|access-date=30 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826221143/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/23/us-syria-un-russia-idUSTRE77M7PR20110823|archive-date=26 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 26 August, [[Reuters]] reported that according to UN envoys, the effort by the US, France, the UK, Germany and Portugal to impose UN sanctions on Syria was meeting "fierce resistance" from Russia and [[China]], with Vitaly Churkin threatening to use Russia's veto power.<ref name="RussFierceResist">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-un-idUSTRE77P4X920110826|title=Russia, China resist U.N. Syria sanctions push: envoys|first=Louis|last=Charbonneau|work=Reuters|date=26 August 2011|access-date=30 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829213336/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/26/us-syria-un-idUSTRE77P4X920110826|archive-date=29 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Reuters, the arms embargo included in the sanctions would prevent Russian firms (the main source of Syrian weaponry) from selling to Syria.<ref name="RussFierceResist"/> Russia proposed a second "rival" resolution to be voted on, described as "toothless" by Western diplomats, which did not include sanctions or other punitive measures, but rather urged Syria to speed up the process of its reforms.<ref name="RussFierceResist"/>

On 4 October, Russia and China exercised a double veto against a Western-drafted Security Council resolution.<ref name="2012 CRS Report"/> The resolution demanded an end to all violence in Syria, accountability for those responsible for it, condemned "grave and systematic" human rights violations, called for a political process, encouraged the opposition to take part in that, and said the Security Council would review Syria's compliance with the resolution in 30 days after which the council would "consider options", including unspecified "measures" under the United Nations Charter.<ref name=nyt4Oct11>[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/world/middleeast/russia-and-china-block-united-nations-resolution-on-syria.html?action=click&contentCollection=Middle%20East&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article 'U.N. Resolution on Syria Blocked by Russia and China'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715094217/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/world/middleeast/russia-and-china-block-united-nations-resolution-on-syria.html?action=click&contentCollection=Middle%20East&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article |date=15 July 2018 }}. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 4 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2015.</ref><ref name="2011 NYT">{{cite news | first = Neil | last = MacFarquhar | title = With Rare Double U.N. Veto on Syria, Russia and China Try to Shield Friend | date = 5 October 2011 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/with-united-nations-veto-russia-and-china-help-syria.html | work = The New York Times | access-date = 22 March 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120312193105/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/with-united-nations-veto-russia-and-china-help-syria.html | archive-date = 12 March 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="RussToVetoAgain?">{{cite news|url=http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=48833|title=Russia will not allow Libya-style military intervention in Syria|publisher=Middle East Online|date=1 November 2011|access-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210131148/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=48833|archive-date=10 February 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''[[New York Times]]'' qualified that as "a weak reference to the possibility of sanctions against Damascus", while Russia had said it would not accept a resolution that included even a hint of sanctions. Russia and the other BRICS nations (Brazil, India, China, South Africa) argued that a UNSC resolution on Libya had been twisted to justify the NATO [[2011 military intervention in Libya]] leading into war against the Libyan government and were determined not to repeat that.<ref name=nyt4Oct11/><ref name="RussToVetoAgain?"/> After this veto, an analyst of the Center for the Analysis of Middle East Conflicts said to the BBC Russian service: Assad has a better chance to resist than the opposition does to win, therefore Moscow is now simply betting on Assad.<ref name="2011 NYT"/>

In the days following their rejecting the Security Council resolution, both Russia and China issued public admonishments of the Syrian government, separately expressing their desire for the government to reform and respect the will of the Syrian people. "If the Syrian leadership is unable to complete such reforms, it will have to go, but this decision should be made not by NATO and certain European countries, it should be made by the people of Syria and the government of Syria," Medvedev told the Russian Security Council.<ref name="edition.cnn.com">{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/11/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html | publisher=CNN | title=Syria opposition gains regional backers | date=11 October 2011 | access-date=4 June 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514043315/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/11/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html | archive-date=14 May 2012 | url-status=live }}</ref>

On 1 November, Sergei Lavrov said at a Russian-Gulf ministerial meeting that Russia would oppose the recent proposal for a no-fly zone in Syria as (in Russia's view) the no-fly zone in Libya had been used to "support one side in a civil war". Lavrov nonetheless stated, when asked if Russia was supporting the Assad government, that "we are not protecting any regime".<ref name="RussToVetoAgain?"/>

On 15 December, Russia proposed a UN Security Council resolution condemning the violence "by all parties, including disproportionate use of force by Syrian authorities". The draft resolution also raised concern over "the illegal supply of weapons to the armed groups in Syria". Western diplomats initially referred to the proposed resolution as a basis for negotiations.<ref name=russiaproposes>{{cite news|url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/15/182807.html|title=Russia proposes U.N. resolution on Syria; U.S. hopes to work with Moscow on draft|date=15 December 2011|access-date=1 February 2012|publisher=Al Arabiya|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218103746/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/15/182807.html|archive-date=18 December 2011}}</ref> The proposal was an updated version of a Russian-Chinese draft resolution introduced to the Security Council a few months earlier.<ref name=russiaproposes/>

===2012===
By the end of January 2012, a resolution proposal, competing with the Russian 15 December draft (see above), had been drafted by Western and Arab powers, which, in contrast, did not condemn violence by both sides in the conflict and did not rule out military intervention. Russia indicated that it would not agree to the Western-Arab draft in its current form,<ref name=Itar-Tass27-1-12>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-russia-idUSTRE80Q0I620120127|title=Russia says U.N. Syria draft unacceptable: Itar-Tass|date=27 January 2012|access-date=27 January 2012|work=[[Reuters]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128064627/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/27/us-syria-russia-idUSTRE80Q0I620120127|archive-date=28 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> and that it would continue to promote its own resolution in the Security Council.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-russia-idUSTRE80P0T020120126|title=Russia to promote its own Syria resolution at U.N.|date=26 January 2012|access-date=27 January 2012|work=[[Reuters]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127051611/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/26/us-syria-russia-idUSTRE80P0T020120126|archive-date=27 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 4 February 2012, Russia and China vetoed that Western and Arab sponsored Security Council resolution, which urged [[Bashar al-Assad]] to adhere to a peace plan drafted by the [[Arab League]].<ref name="Economist">{{cite news | title = The Long Road to Damascus | newspaper = The Economist | date = 11 February 2012 | volume = 402 | issue = 8771 | pages = 25–28}}</ref><ref name="2012 CRS Report"/><ref name="RussBlockArabLeague">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/world/middleeast/syria-homs-death-toll-said-to-rise.html|title=Russia and China Block U.N. Action on Crisis in Syria|first=Neil|last=MacFarquhar|date=4 February 2012|work=The New York Times|access-date=28 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307185703/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/world/middleeast/syria-homs-death-toll-said-to-rise.html|archive-date=7 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 7 February 2012, Russian Foreign Minister [[Sergei Lavrov]], along with foreign intelligence chief [[Mikhail Fradkov]], met with President Assad and reported to the world that President Assad was committed to reform of the constitution and electoral process. Additionally, the Russian delegation said that Syria alone held the power to change the fate of its people, without foreign intervention.<ref name="Economist"/> In March, Lavrov said in a televised interview that Syria's leadership had ignored Russia's warnings and made "very many mistakes" that helped drag the country to the brink of civil war.<ref name=reut.21.3.12>{{cite news | first = Steve | last = Gutterman | title = Russia Out to Maintain Clout, Improve Image on Syria | date = 21 March 2012 | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/syria-russia-assad-idUSL6E8EL5WQ20120321 | work = Reuters | access-date = 11 October 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151015222847/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/21/syria-russia-assad-idUSL6E8EL5WQ20120321 | archive-date = 15 October 2015 | url-status = live }}</ref>

On 16 April, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister [[Mikhail Bogdanov (diplomat)|Mikhail Bogdanov]] and other Russian diplomats met with members of the Syrian opposition and Hassan Abdul-Azim, head of an opposition group, the [[National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change]].<ref>{{cite news | agency = Associated Press | title = Syrian opposition delegation holds talks with Russian diplomats in Moscow | date = 16 April 2012 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/first-team-of-un-monitors-arrive-in-syria-as-truce-buckles-under-regime-shelling-of-homs/2012/04/16/gIQAGzugKT_story.html | newspaper = The Washington Post | access-date = 19 April 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190423142333/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/first-team-of-un-monitors-arrive-in-syria-as-truce-buckles-under-regime-shelling-of-homs/2012/04/16/gIQAGzugKT_story.html | archive-date = 23 April 2019 }}</ref> When special U.N. envoy [[Kofi Annan]] developed a plan to end Syrian violence, Russia attempted to play a major role in the outcome of the plan by meeting with both the Assad government and opposition forces, while vetoing multiple plans during Security Council votes to accomplish the goals set forth by an international consensus.

On 20 April, the Security Council announced an agreement to expand the number of U.N. cease-fire observers in Syria from 30 to 300, as well as to allow Secretary-General [[Ban Ki-moon]] to decide on the peacekeepers' deployment based on conditions on the ground.<ref name="tentative agreement">{{cite news | agency = Associated Press | title = UN Security Council reaches tentative agreement on increasing monitors in Syria to 300 | date = 20 April 2012 | newspaper = The Washington Post | access-date = 20 April 2012 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/french-top-diplomat-says-world-must-prepare-for-failure-of-syria-peace-plan/2012/04/20/gIQA9vs1UT_story.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190423144330/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/french-top-diplomat-says-world-must-prepare-for-failure-of-syria-peace-plan/2012/04/20/gIQA9vs1UT_story.html | archive-date = 23 April 2019 }}</ref> Under the plan, Syrian violence would immediately stop and the Assad government would begin implementation of the [[Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria|Annan six-point peace plan]].<ref name="tentative agreement"/> The draft was the result of two texts proposed by Russia and European Council members.<ref name="tentative agreement"/> When the texts were merged, the portion imposing [[International sanctions|sanctions]] on the Assad government for failure to comply with the peacekeeping plan was removed, as requested by Russia and China.<ref name="tentative agreement"/> The Russian draft also did not contain language dictating that U.N. peacekeepers' presence in Syria was a condition of Assad's agreement to return troops and heavy weapons to their barracks.<ref name="tentative agreement"/>

The [[United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria]] (UNSMIS) was passed by the [[U.N. Security Council]] on 21 April 2012, and deployed up to 300 unarmed observers to Syria for a period of up to 90 days. The plan also called for passage of the Annan peace plan, making unanimous passage of the resolution significant. After the peace plan was passed, Russian's U.N. ambassador [[Vitaly Churkin]] relayed Russia's support of the agreement to the media, while other nations expressed frustration with the process and lack of progress in ending the violence so far.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news | title = UN Authorizes 300 unarmed Syria Monitors | date = 21 April 2012 | url = http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-21/middleeast/world_meast_syria-unrest_1_network-of-opposition-activists-local-coordination-committees-observers | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130119090648/http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-21/middleeast/world_meast_syria-unrest_1_network-of-opposition-activists-local-coordination-committees-observers | archive-date = 19 January 2013 | publisher = CNN | access-date = 22 April 2012 }}</ref>

A Bloomberg article (April 2012) said that although Russia has tried to retain the image of a peacemaker in this conflict, Russian diplomats have repeatedly criticized the potential condemnation of Assad by western nations. Russia has also accused the West and allied nations of sabotaging a cease-fire brokered by Russia between Syrian forces.<ref name="Businessweek"/>

In the aftermath of the [[Houla massacre]] (May 2012), [[Foreign Ministry (Russia)|Foreign Minister]] [[Sergey Lavrov]] said that "The government bears the main responsibility for what is going on" and that "Any government in any country bears responsibility for the security of its citizens".<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://www.cbs8.com/story/18639282/russia-chides-ally-syria-over-massacre-of-108 |title= UN: Most of 108 killed in Syria were executed |author1= Hubbard, Ben |author2= Jordans, Robert |date= 29 May 2012 |agency= Associated Press |publisher= CBS8 |access-date= 29 May 2012 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120530171556/http://www.cbs8.com/story/18639282/russia-chides-ally-syria-over-massacre-of-108 |archive-date= 30 May 2012 }}</ref> Russia's reaction was considered to be a condemnation of the Syrian government.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title= Russia Condemns Syria Over Massacre |url= http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2115891,00.html |magazine= Time |date= 28 May 2012 |access-date= 29 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120529030056/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2115891,00.html |archive-date= 29 May 2012 }}</ref> However, Lavrov also stated that the rebels shared the blame for the killings, noting that some victims had been killed at close range in a district controlled by the opposition fighters.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18235965 |title= Syria massacre: Rebels share blame, says Russia's Lavrov |publisher=BBC News |date=28 May 2012 |access-date=31 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120528182250/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18235965 |archive-date=28 May 2012 |url-status= live}}</ref> As talk of UN intervention intensified, a foreign affairs committee chair in the Russian government, hardened Russia's stance, moving it further away from the earlier condemnation of Damascus, saying that "We have very strong doubts that those people who were shot at point-blank [range] and were stabbed, that this was the action of forces loyal to President Assad. ... The shelling was probably ... the troops of Mr Assad, but the stabbing and point-blank firing was definitely from the other side."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18233934|title=Houla: How a massacre unfolded|date=29 May 2012|publisher=BBC News|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621182154/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18233934|archive-date=21 June 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Steve Rosenberg of the BBC in June 2012, Russia accused the US of setting double standards: US selling weapons to Bahrain and at the same time criticizing Russia for supporting Syrian President Assad with weapons.
Russia feels that the US is acting hypocritically by expecting them to discontinue selling weapons to the Syrian government, since the US supplies Syrian rebels with weapons via Turkey. From Russia's perspective, if US aids the Syrian opposition, they are indirectly, undermining Russia's national security. BBC commented that Russia expects only one of two outcomes to take place in the Syrian civil war: either Assad stays in power, ensuring their stronghold influence in the middle east region, or, radical Islamists take over, creating a terror threat for Russia.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rosenberg|first=Steve|title=Why Russia Sells Syria Arms|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18642032|publisher=BBC News|date=29 June 2012|access-date=18 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819092734/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18642032|archive-date=19 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2013===
On 11 June 2013, President [[Vladimir Putin]] acknowledged that President Assad's not undertaking any "reform" had led to the current situation in Syria. He stated on Russian state media that:
"Syria as a country was rife for some kind of change. And the government of Syria should have felt that in due time and should have undertaken some reform. Had they done that, what we're seeing in Syria today would have never happened."<ref>"[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10114247/Vladimir-Putin-admits-Bashar-al-Assad-responsible-for-Syrian-uprising.html Vladimir Putin admits Bashar al-Assad responsible for Syrian uprising] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126200436/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10114247/Vladimir-Putin-admits-Bashar-al-Assad-responsible-for-Syrian-uprising.html |date=26 January 2019 }}". ''The Daily Telegraph'', 11 June 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2015.</ref>

On 26 June 2013, the Deputy Russian Foreign Minister said that the small Russian naval base at [[Tartus]] has been evacuated. [[Mikhail Bogdanov (diplomat)|Mikhail Bogdanov]] stated that: "Presently, the Russian Defense Ministry has not a single person stationed in Syria. The base does not have any strategic military importance".<ref name="washingtonpost.com">"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-reports-pullout-from-small-base-in-syria/2013/06/26/4602b63e-de55-11e2-b797-cbd4cb13f9c6_story.html Russia reports pullout from small base in Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715152102/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-reports-pullout-from-small-base-in-syria/2013/06/26/4602b63e-de55-11e2-b797-cbd4cb13f9c6_story.html |date=15 July 2018 }}". ''The Washington Post''. 26 June 2013</ref>

On 9 September 2013, responding to U.S. threats of strikes against Syria in response to use of chemical weapons in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister [[Sergey Lavrov]] issued a proposal intended to avert a U.S. attack, with provisions including Syria's placing its chemical weapons under international control and their subsequent destruction.<ref>{{cite news |author=Michael R. Gordon |author2=Steven Lee Myers |title=Obama Calls Russia Offer on Syria Possible 'Breakthrough' |date=10 September 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/world/middleeast/kerry-says-syria-should-hand-over-all-chemical-arms.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130912204138/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/world/middleeast/kerry-says-syria-should-hand-over-all-chemical-arms.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=12 September 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 12 September 2013, ''The New York Times'' published an op-ed by Vladimir Putin urging the United States to avoid unilateral military action and work with international cooperation in support of a negotiated solution to the Syrian conflict.<ref>{{cite news |author=Vladimir V. Putin |title=A Plea for Caution From Russia |date=12 September 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A31 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130912205013/http://www.nytimes.com//2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html |archive-date=12 September 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===2015===

====September====
On 15 September 2015, in [[Dushanbe]] at a meeting of the Russian-led [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]], Putin called for a united, international effort together with Syria to fight the threat of ISIL<ref>''[[NRC Handelsblad]]'', 16 and 18 September 2015.</ref> but also said that Syrian President Assad "is ready to integrate the same [healthy] part of the opposition into the state's administration".<ref>''[[Le Monde]]'', 17 September 2015.</ref><ref>[https://ppiccini52.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/poutine-sengage-en-syrie-pour-remettre-assad-en-selle/ 'Poutine s'engage en Syrie pour remettre Assad en selle' (Putin engages himself in Syria to put Assad back in the saddle)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203104441/https://ppiccini52.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/poutine-sengage-en-syrie-pour-remettre-assad-en-selle/ |date=3 February 2016 }}. ''Il Blog di Pierluigi Piccini'', 17 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015. (N.B.: this happens to be exactly the article that was published that same day in ''[[Le Monde]]''.)</ref>

On 27 September, President Vladimir Putin stated, in an interview with [[CBS]]'s '60 Minutes': "More than 2,000 terrorist-fighters from Russia and ex-Soviet republics are in the territory of Syria. There is a threat of their return to us. So, instead of waiting for their return, we are helping President al-Assad fight them".<ref name=indep9Oct>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-in-syria-president-putins-middle-east-adventure-exposes-terrorist-threat-now-facing-russia-a6688661.html |title=Russia in Syria: President Putin's Middle East adventure exposes terrorist threat now facing Moscow |work=The Independent |date=9 October 2015 |access-date=7 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207133932/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-in-syria-president-putins-middle-east-adventure-exposes-terrorist-threat-now-facing-russia-a6688661.html |archive-date=7 December 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the [[United Nations General Assembly]], 28 September 2015, President [[Vladimir Putin|Putin]] seemed to lay at least part of the responsibility for the Syrian Civil War with unnamed powers that had been "pushing" for "democratic revolution" in Syria:

{{blockquote|... We all know that after the end of the [[Cold War]], a single center of domination emerged in the world. ...

... We are all different. And we should respect that. No one has to conform to a single development model that someone has once and for all recognized as the only right one.

... Attempts to push for changes within other countries based on ideological preferences often led to tragic consequences and to degradation rather than progress. It seems however, that far from learning from others' mistakes, everyone just keeps repeating them. And so the export of revolutions, this time of so-called "democratic" ones, continues. Suffice it to look at the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. ... Instead of the triumph of democracy and progress we got violence, poverty and a social disaster. ... It is now obvious that the power vacuum created in some countries of the Middle East and North Africa led to emergence of anarchy areas. Those immediately started to be filled with extremists and terrorists. Tens of thousands of militants are fighting under the banners of the so-called "[[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]]". ... And now the ranks of radicals are being joined by the members of the so-called "moderate" Syrian opposition supported by the Western countries. First, they are armed and trained, and then they defect to the Islamic State.

... Russia has always been firm and consistent in opposing terrorism in all its forms. Today, we provide military and technical assistance both to Iraq and Syria that are fighting terrorist groups. We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its Armed Forces ... We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad's Armed Forces and Kurd militia are truly fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations in Syria. ...<ref name=UN.GA.2015>[https://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/70/70_RU_EN.pdf Statement by Mr. Vladimir V. Putin, President of the Russian Federation, at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, 28 September 2015. (Unofficial translation.)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508091937/https://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/70/70_RU_EN.pdf |date=8 May 2017 }} ''un.org''. Retrieved 1 October 2015.</ref>}}

[[File:Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama (2015-09-29) 04.jpg|thumb|350px|Russian and U.S. representatives meet to discuss the situation in Syria on 29 September 2015]]

Putin again called for cooperation with the Syrian government in fighting terrorism: "we should acknowledge that no-one except for Assad and his militia are truly fighting Isis in Syria."<ref name=guard.9Oc>{{cite news|last1=Khomami|first1=Nadia|title=UN general assembly: International community has failed Syrians, says Rouhani|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/sep/28/united-nations-un-general-assembly-putin-obama-hollande-world-leaders#block-56097031e4b077b1f5a0a564|access-date=9 October 2015|agency=TheGuardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011215217/http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/sep/28/united-nations-un-general-assembly-putin-obama-hollande-world-leaders#block-56097031e4b077b1f5a0a564|archive-date=11 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

====October====
On 1 October 2015, President Vladimir Putin dismissed unidentified media reports of alleged casualties among civilians caused by [[Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War|Russian airstrikes in Syria]] as "[[information warfare]]" against Russia, stating that the claims had begun before the planes used in the airstrikes had even taken off.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

On 12 October, Putin appealed to members of the [[American-led intervention in Syria]] to join the [[Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War]], highlighting the legality of Russia's intervention at Syria's request and questioning whether the U.S. one was valid at all. He highlighted the legitimate authority of Syria's fledgling [[constitutional democracy]] and lambasted the scrapped [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] program funding rebel training in Syria, saying "It would have been better to give us $500 million. At least we would have used it more effectively from the point of view of fighting international terrorism."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/10/12/Putin-says-US-should-have-given-500M-to-Russia-instead-of-Syria-rebels/5211444650476/|title=Putin: U.S. should keep training Syrian rebels|work=United Press International|access-date=14 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013124304/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/10/12/Putin-says-US-should-have-given-500M-to-Russia-instead-of-Syria-rebels/5211444650476/|archive-date=13 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 13 October, Putin criticized the leaders of the American-led intervention in Syria for sending arms to the area that could end up in the wrong hands. He also criticized the American decision not to share with Russia information regarding potential ISIL targets, adding that American side does not seem to have a clear understanding of what really happens in the country and what goals they are seeking to achieve.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/putin-slams-us-syria-says-partners-mush-brains-113850683.html|title=Putin slams US on Syria, says partners have 'mush for brains'|date=13 October 2015|work=Yahoo News|access-date=14 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019030906/http://news.yahoo.com/putin-slams-us-syria-says-partners-mush-brains-113850683.html|archive-date=19 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tass.ru/politika/2342526|script-title=ru:ТАСС: Политика – Путин: РФ стремится не к лидерству в Сирии, а хочет внести вклад в борьбу с терроризмом|date=13 October 2015|work=tass.ru|language=ru|access-date=21 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221234604/http://tass.ru/politika/2342526|archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50498|script-title=ru:Инвестиционный форум『Россия зовёт!』• Президент России|date=13 October 2015|work=kremlin.ru|language=ru|access-date=21 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221234552/http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50498|archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In mid-October, Russian prime minister [[Dmitry Medvedev]], talking of the U.S. government's refusal to engage in dialogue with Russia on cooperation in Syria, called this a "silly behavior": "As a result of these decisions and the cancellation of talks, the Americans have demonstrated their weakness." He added Russia remained open to discussion of "any issues".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rg.ru/2015/10/16/medvedev-site.html|title=Медведев назвал отказ США от переговоров по Сирии слабостью 0|work=Rossiyskaya Gazeta|date=16 October 2015|access-date=23 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017135205/http://www.rg.ru/2015/10/16/medvedev-site.html|archive-date=17 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Russian peace initiatives and efforts==
{{see also|Syrian Civil War peace process|U.S.–Russia peace proposals on Syria}}
On 30 January 2012, the Russian foreign ministry suggested "informal" talks in Moscow between the Syrian regime and opposition, and said the Syrian authorities had already agreed to the Russian offer. Abdel Baset Seda, a member of the [[Syrian National Council]]'s executive committee, told [[Reuters]] that the SNC had not received any formal invitation for such talks, but would decline if one arrived: "Our position has not changed and it is that there is no dialogue with (President Bashar al-Assad)".<ref name="auto"/>

According to [[Martti Ahtisaari]] who held discussions about Syria with the five [[permanent members of the United Nations Security Council]] in February 2012, a Russian three-point plan, put forth by its ambassador, [[Vitaly Churkin]] included a proposal for Assad to cede power. The plan also required the Syrian government and the opposition to come to the negotiating table. It was ignored by the US, Britain and France, because at the time they thought that Assad's regime was about to fall.<ref name="auto1"/>

7 November 2013, Russia again announced it was trying to broker talks in Moscow between the Syrian government and opposition, seeing that the U.S. and Russian negotiators failed to agree on whether or not Assad should be forced out of office.<ref name=USA7-11-2013>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/07/syria-peace-talks-chemical-weapons/3464091/ Canceled Syria talks may get new start in Moscow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019090618/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/07/syria-peace-talks-chemical-weapons/3464091/ |date=19 October 2017 }}, USA Today, 7 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.</ref> Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdanov said the Moscow talks could focus on humanitarian problems as well on some political issues.<ref name=USA7-11-2013/>

At the end of October 2015, on the initiative of Russia, Iran was for the first time invited to participate in the [[Syria peace talks in Vienna|Syria peace talks]] in Vienna.<ref name="offer">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/world/middleeast/syria-talks-vienna-iran.html?_r=0|title=After a U.S. Shift, Iran Has a Seat at Talks on War in Syria|work=New York Times|access-date=29 October 2015|date=29 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031041809/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/world/middleeast/syria-talks-vienna-iran.html?_r=0|archive-date=31 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 22 February 2016, in [[Munich]], foreign ministers of Russia and the U.S., as co-chairs of the [[Vienna peace talks for Syria|ISSG]],<ref name="rususdeal">{{cite web|title=Joint Statement of the United States and the Russian Federation, as Co-Chairs of the ISSG, on Cessation of Hostilities in Syria|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/02/253115.htm|publisher=U.S. Department of State|date=22 February 2016|access-date=25 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418104358/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/02/253115.htm|archive-date=18 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> announced that they had concluded a deal to seek a nationwide "[[Geneva peace talks on Syria (2016)#Cessation of hostilities (27 February 2016)|cessation of hostilities]]" in Syria<ref>{{cite news|work=BBC News|date=26 February 2016|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35674908|title=Temporary truce comes into effect|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725190937/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35674908|archive-date=25 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> that came into effect on 27 February 2016 at 00:00 (Damascus time).<ref name=stopFighting>{{cite news|work=Reuters|date=26 February 2016|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-un-idUSKCN0VZ2WM|title=U.N. demands Syria parties halt fighting, peace talks set for March 7|access-date=7 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623192052/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-un-idUSKCN0VZ2WM|archive-date=23 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 23 February 2016, the Russian defence ministry inaugurated the [[Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria|Russian Reconciliation Center]] headquartered at its [[Khmeimim (air base)|Khmeimim base]], which was billed as a step undertaken in accordance with arrangements between Russia and the U.S.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12079277@egNews |title=На авиабазе Хмеймим начал работу Координационный центр по примирению враждующих сторон на территории Сирии: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации |access-date=27 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117013627/https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12079277@egNews |archive-date=17 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Military support for the Assad government==
[[File:Bashar and Asmaa al-Assad in Moscow.jpg|thumb|left|Bashar and Asma al-Assad during a visit to Moscow (image taken in 2005)]]

===Military assistance prior to the intervention===
From early stages of the Syrian conflict, Russia, under its contractual obligations, delivered ammunition and weapons to the Syrian government;<ref name="RusArmsShipment">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16797818|title=Russian arms shipments bolster Syria's embattled Assad|first=Richard|last=Galpin|date=10 January 2012|access-date=4 February 2012|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522133208/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16797818|archive-date=22 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> in early 2012 Russia's contracts with Syria for arms were unofficially estimated to be worth 1.5&nbsp;billion US dollars, comprising 10% of Russia's global arms sales.<ref name="RusArmsShipment"/> The arms sales to the Syrian government provoked criticism on the part of Western as well as some Arab nations.<ref name="RusArmsShipment"/> The Russian government dismissed criticism noting that the arms sales to Syria did not violate any standing arms embargoes.<ref name="RusArmsShipment"/> On 1 June 2012, shortly after the [[Houla massacre]], Russia's foreign ministry in turn blamed the massacre, in which 108 people were said to have been killed, on foreign assistance to Syrian rebels, including arms deliveries and mercenary training: "The tragedy in Houla showed what can be the outcome of financial aid and smuggling of modern weapons to rebels, recruitment of foreign mercenaries and flirting with various sorts of extremists".<ref name="arabiaforeignaid">{{cite news|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/06/01/218007.html|title=Houla massacre result of 'foreign aid' to rebels: Russia|date=1 June 2012|publisher=[[Al Arabiya]]|access-date=17 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203104441/https://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/06/01/218007.html|archive-date=3 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="InterventionCall">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18295291|title=UN calls for investigation into Houla killings in Syria|date=1 June 2012|publisher=BBC News|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113234847/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18295291|archive-date=13 January 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Besides providing the refurbished [[Mil Mi-24|MI-25]] helicopter gunships, Russia was also said to have transferred to Syria the [[Buk missile system|Buk-M2]] air defense system, the [[K-300P Bastion-P|Bastion]] coastal defence missile system, and [[Yak-130]] combat jet trainer.<ref name = "back down">{{cite web|last=Sayginer|first=Ozge|date=20 June 2012|title=Why Russia will never back down? Reasons behind supporting the Assad regime|url=http://www.eurstrat.eu/why-russia-will-never-back-down-reasons-behind-supporting-the-assad-regime/|work=The European Strategist|access-date=23 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301203329/http://www.eurstrat.eu/why-russia-will-never-back-down-reasons-behind-supporting-the-assad-regime/|archive-date=1 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Russian shipments of fuel have also assisted Assad,<ref name = "DoPa 26Apr2012">{{cite news |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-russia-iran-idUSBRE83P0GE20120426 |title= How Russia, Iran keep fuel flowing to Syria |first= Jessica |last= Donati |author2= Julia Payne |date= 26 April 2012 |work= Reuters |access-date= 28 April 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120427231140/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/26/us-syria-russia-iran-idUSBRE83P0GE20120426 |archive-date= 27 April 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref> and an unspecified number of military advisers are teaching Syrians how to use Russian weapons.<ref name = "Russ warships">{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/syria-moscow-sends-navy-vessels-to-syrian-port-1-2362099|title=Syria: Moscow sends navy vessels to Syrian port|date=19 June 2012|work=The Scotsman|access-date=23 June 2012}}</ref> The head of Russia's federal service for military-technical co-operation confirmed that the repaired Syrian MI-25 attack helicopters were "ready to be delivered on time" adding that "Syria is our friend, and we fulfill all our obligations to our friends".<ref>Elder, Miriam., ''The Guardian'', Thursday 28 June 2012., Syria will receive attack helicopters from Russia, Kremlin confirms http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/28/syria-receive-attack-helicopter-risussia?newsfeed=true</ref> Amnesty International, noting the Syrian government's headlong deployment of military helicopters, criticised Russia: "Anyone supplying attack helicopters – or maintaining, repairing or upgrading them – for the Syrian government displays a wanton disregard for humanity."<ref>{{cite web |title= Syria: Reports of helicopter shipments underscore need for arms embargo |url= https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/syria-reports-helicopter-shipments-underscore-need-arms-embargo-2012-06-19 |date= 19 June 2012 |publisher= Amnesty International |access-date= 25 June 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120622011053/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/syria-reports-helicopter-shipments-underscore-need-arms-embargo-2012-06-19 |archive-date= 22 June 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref> Human Rights Watch warned Russia's state-owned arms-trading company [[Rosoboronexport]] in a letter that, under [[international law]], "providing weapons to Syria while crimes against humanity are being committed may translate into assisting in the commission of those crimes", and called on governments and companies around the world to stop signing new contracts and consider suspending current dealings with the Russian company.<ref>{{cite web |title= Isolate Syria's Arms Suppliers |url= https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/03/isolate-syria-s-arms-suppliers |date= 3 June 2012 |publisher= Human Rights Watch |access-date= 29 June 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120701224315/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/03/isolate-syria-s-arms-suppliers |archive-date= 1 July 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref>

In May 2013, [[Prime Minister of Israel|Israeli Prime Minister]], [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] traveled to [[Moscow]] in a bid to convince Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] not to sell S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries and 144 missiles to Assad's government. The long-range air defense system would be a leap for Syria's current air defense system, enabling them to down fighter planes and cruise missiles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324059704578471453006383248|title=U.S. Is Warned Russia Plans Syria Arms Sale|author1=Jay Solomon, Adam Entous|author2=Julian E. Barnes|name-list-style=amp|date=9 May 2013|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213063543/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324059704578471453006383248|archive-date=13 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Assad government was reported to have used Russian-supplied [[Mil Mi-8|MI-8]] and [[Mil Mi-17|Mi-17]] helicopters to carry out barrel-bomb attacks in Homs. According to former senior American intelligence official Jeffrey White, Russia was most likely providing spare parts such as engines, transmissions and rotors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/world/middleeast/russia-is-scolded-as-us-weighs-syria-options.html?hpw&rref=world|title=U.S. Steps Up Criticism of Russian Role in Syrian War|author1=Gordon, Michael R.|author2=Sanger, David E.|author3=Schmitt, Eric|work=The New York Times|date=17 February 2014|access-date=28 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106180819/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/world/middleeast/russia-is-scolded-as-us-weighs-syria-options.html?hpw&rref=world|archive-date=6 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 2014, a Russian company ''AR 514'' (514 авиационный ремонтный завод) posted photos in their portfolio showing them performing repairs and upgrade on [[Su-24]] identified to belong to Syrian fleet.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} In 2015 Assad confirmed in an interview that Russia has been supplying arms to Syria based on contracts signed before and after the beginning of the conflict.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-russia-arms-idUSKBN0MQ0RK20150330 | title=Syria gets Russian arms under deals signed since conflict began: Assad | work=Reuters | date=31 March 2015 | access-date=31 March 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331112724/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/30/us-syria-crisis-russia-arms-idUSKBN0MQ0RK20150330 | archive-date=31 March 2015 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Syrian officers and air defence personnel were trained in Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-russia-insight-idUSBRE95505W20130606|title=Insight: Russia's Syria diplomacy, a game of smoke and mirrors|work=Reuters|date=6 June 2013|access-date=6 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606093226/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/06/us-syria-crisis-russia-insight-idUSBRE95505W20130606|archive-date=6 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2015–16 intervention and airstrikes===
{{main|Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War}}
[[File:Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama (2015-09-29) 05.jpg|thumb|[[Barack Obama]] meets with [[Vladimir Putin]] to discuss Syria, 29 September 2015]]
As of September 2015, Russia has stepped up its military presence in Syria, deploying 12 [[Su-25]] ground [[attack aircraft]], 12 [[Su-24]] [[interdictor]] aircraft,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/09/21/these-are-the-28-jets-russia-now-has-in-syria/|title=This is the airpower Russia has in Syria|author=Thomas Gibbons-Neff|date=21 September 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608133651/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/09/21/these-are-the-28-jets-russia-now-has-in-syria/|archive-date=8 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=45&v=jeL1kdtrnQg|title=les premières images des avions russes en Syrie|date=28 September 2015|publisher=YouTube|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015222809/https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=45&v=jeL1kdtrnQg|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 6 [[Sukhoi Su-34]] medium bombers<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theaviationist.com/2015/09/29/su-34-have-arrived-in-syria/|title=Six Russian Su-34 Fullback bomber have just arrived in Syria. And this is the route they have likely flown to get there.|date=28 September 2015|access-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609170712/https://theaviationist.com/2015/09/29/su-34-have-arrived-in-syria/|archive-date=9 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/first-video-report-from-russias-air-base-in-syria-shows-1734218079|title=First Video Report From Russia's Air Base In Syria Shows Su-34s In Action|first=Tyler|last=Rogoway|work=Foxtrot Alpha|date=2 October 2015 |access-date=18 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015222735/http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/first-video-report-from-russias-air-base-in-syria-shows-1734218079|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and 4 [[Su-30]] [[multirole combat aircraft]] and 15 helicopters (including [[Mi-24]] attack helicopters)<ref>[https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/russian-fighter-aircraft-arrive-syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019061406/https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/russian-fighter-aircraft-arrive-syria |date=19 October 2017 }} Russian Fighter Aircraft Arrive in Syria 21 September 2015, Stratfor</ref> at the [[Bassel Al-Assad International Airport]] near [[Latakia]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.janes.com/article/54709/russia-deploys-powerful-strike-group-to-syria |title=Janes &#124; Latest defence and security news |access-date=22 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923060434/http://www.janes.com/article/54709/russia-deploys-powerful-strike-group-to-syria |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/world/middleeast/russia-deploys-ground-attack-aircraft-to-syrian-base.html | title=Russia Expands Fleet in Syria With Jets That Can Attack Targets on Ground | first1=Eric | last1=Schmitt | first2=Neil | last2=MacFarquhar | date=21 September 2015 | newspaper=New York Times | access-date=17 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424153632/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/world/middleeast/russia-deploys-ground-attack-aircraft-to-syrian-base.html | archive-date=24 April 2019 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/russian-fighter-aircraft-arrive-syria|title=Russian Fighter Aircraft Arrive in Syria|work=Stratfor|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019061406/https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/russian-fighter-aircraft-arrive-syria|archive-date=19 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://theaviationist.com/2015/09/21/new-satellite-image-unveils-an-impressive-line-up-of-12-russian-su-25-frogfoot-attack-jets-in-syria/|title=New Satellite Image unveils an impressive line-up of 12 Russian Su-25 Frogfoot attack jets in Syria!|work=The Aviationist|date=21 September 2015|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001192057/http://theaviationist.com/2015/09/21/new-satellite-image-unveils-an-impressive-line-up-of-12-russian-su-25-frogfoot-attack-jets-in-syria/|archive-date=1 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11883107/Russian-jets-in-Syria-mean-no-fly-zone-is-out-of-the-question-warn-experts.html|title=Russian jets in Syria mean no-fly zone is 'out of the question', warn experts|date=22 September 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926040103/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11883107/Russian-jets-in-Syria-mean-no-fly-zone-is-out-of-the-question-warn-experts.html|archive-date=26 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The planes are protected by at least two or possibly three [[Pantsir-S1|SA-22]] surface-to-air, antiaircraft systems, and unarmed [[MQ-1 Predator]]-like surveillance drones are being used to fly reconnaissance missions.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> In addition to air forces, ground forces include 6 [[T-90]] tanks, 15 artillery pieces, 35 [[armored personnel carrier]]s and 200 [[Naval Infantry (Russia)|Marines]] (with housing facilities for 1,500 personnel)<ref>Schmitt, Eric; Gordon, Michael R. (14 Sep 2015). "[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/world/middleeast/russian-moves-in-syria-widen-role-in-mideast.html Russian Moves in Syria Widen Role in Mideast] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424154630/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/world/middleeast/russian-moves-in-syria-widen-role-in-mideast.html |date=24 April 2019 }}" ''The New York Times''</ref> [[BM-30]] multiple missile launchers have been spotted near Latakia.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

On 30 September 2015, Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] requested permission from [[Federation Council (Russia)|Federation Council]], the upper house of the [[Russian parliament]], to deploy the country's military in Syria.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} On the same day, [[Federation Council (Russia)|Federation Council]] approved the [[Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War|use of Russian military in Syria]] to fight terrorist groups, the [[ISIS|Islamic State]] in particular.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} Permission was granted after a unanimous vote, however any combat operations will be limited to using the air force.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/30/russian-parliament-grants-vladimir-putin-right-to-deploy-military-in-syria|title=Russian parliament grants Vladimir Putin right to deploy military in Syria|first=Shaun|last=Walker|work=The Guardian|date=30 September 2015|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930120511/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/30/russian-parliament-grants-vladimir-putin-right-to-deploy-military-in-syria|archive-date=30 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Russian media reported that Syrian President [[Bashar al-Assad]] had asked for Russia to intervene by providing military assistance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20150930/1292970356.html|title=Совет Федерации разрешил использовать ВС России за рубежом|work=РИА Новости|date=30 September 2015|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001130806/http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20150930/1292970356.html|archive-date=1 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 30 September 2015, Russia launched its first airstrikes against targets in [[al-Rastan|Rastan]], [[Talbiseh]], and Zafaraniya in [[Homs]] province of Syria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-30/russia-begins-air-strikes-in-syria-us-official-says/6818352|title=Russia begins air strikes in Syria|date=30 September 2015|publisher=ABC News|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930231315/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-30/russia-begins-air-strikes-in-syria-us-official-says/6818352|archive-date=30 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=3&v=O4cP-FUFQrY|title=تلبيسة اللحظات الاولى من الغارات من الطيران الروسي واستخراج الشهداء والجرحى من تحت الانقاض – YouTube|date=30 September 2015|publisher=YouTube|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015222824/https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=3&v=O4cP-FUFQrY|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/30/russia-launches-first-airstrikes-against-targets-in-syria-says-us|title=Russia launches first airstrikes against targets in Syria|first=Shaun|last=Walker|work=The Guardian|date=30 September 2015|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930151521/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/30/russia-launches-first-airstrikes-against-targets-in-syria-says-us|archive-date=30 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/09/30/russian-parliament-troops-abroad/73072884/|title=U.S. official: Russia launches first Syria airstrike|date=30 September 2015|work=USA Today|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002191700/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/09/30/russian-parliament-troops-abroad/73072884/|archive-date=2 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Moscow gave the United States a one-hour advance notice of its operations.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.678205|title=Russia Confirms Carrying Out Airstrikes in Syria|work=Haaretz|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001105100/http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.678205|archive-date=1 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The Homs area is crucial to President Bashar al-Assad's control of western Syria. Insurgent control of the area would separate the coastal cities of Latakia- where Russian aircraft are based- and Tartous, where Russia operates a [[Russian naval facility in Tartus|naval facility]] from Damascus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.euronews.com/2015/09/30/syria-russian-air-strikes-have-started-according-to-us-official/|title=France claims Russian jets have struck rebel, not IS forces in Homs|work=euronews|date=30 September 2015|access-date=18 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015222743/http://www.euronews.com/2015/09/30/syria-russian-air-strikes-have-started-according-to-us-official/|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 1 October 2015, the Russian defence ministry spokesman said Russia had deployed over 50 aircraft (including also [[Su-34]]) in Syria: "The air group was deployed on very short notice. We have been able to do it, as most of the materiel and ammunition had already been there, at our depot in Tartus. We only had to move our aircraft and deliver some equipment."

At the end of December 2015, senior U.S. officials privately admitted that Russia, while maintaining a relatively light military footprint, had achieved its central goal of stabilising the Assad government and, with the costs relatively low and minimal casualties, could sustain the operation at this level for years to come.<ref name="reutersstabilis">{{cite web|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-syria-idUSKBN0UB0BA20151229|title= U.S. sees bearable costs, key goals met for Russia in Syria so far|publisher= Reuters|date= 28 December 2015|access-date= 7 December 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190415104043/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-syria-idUSKBN0UB0BA20151229|archive-date= 15 April 2019|url-status= live}}</ref>

[[File:Sergey Shoigu with Hossein Dehghan (2016-02-16) 06.jpg|thumb|Russian Defense Minister [[Sergey Shoygu]] with Iranian Defense Minister [[Hossein Dehghan]], 16 February 2016]]
In February 2016, the Russian Ambassador to Syria said that part of Russia's arms deliveries to the Syrian government was gratis or on easy terms.<ref name="kinshak">{{cite news|url=http://www.interfax.ru/interview/493796|script-title=ru:Александр Кинщак: Говорить о наличии скрытых планов обеспечить долгосрочное военное присутствие РФ в Сирии неуместно|publisher=[[Interfax]]|date=8 February 2016|quote=Однако с учетом того, что финансовые возможности Дамаска в условиях развязанной террористами войны на истощение, общей деградации экономики и западных санкций значительно уменьшились, часть поставок осуществляется безвозмездно либо на льготных условиях.|language=ru|access-date=8 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209092300/http://www.interfax.ru/interview/493796|archive-date=9 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2016, the strategic city of [[Palmyra (modern)|Palmyra]] was recaptured by the [[Syrian Army]] after a [[Palmyra offensive (March 2016)|large-scale offensive]] supported by Russian airstrikes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Isis 'losing control' of Palmyra as Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes approach ancient city|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-losing-control-of-palmyra-as-syrian-troops-backed-by-russian-air-strikes-approach-ancient-city-a6953921.html|agency=Independent|date=26 March 2016}}</ref>

===Role of private contractors===
Officially, Russia is participating only in an air war over Syria, with a small number of special and support troops on the ground. However, in November 2016 Reuters published a report that contained evidence that Russian forces were playing a more substantial role in ground combat by employing contractors recruited through private agencies registered in foreign jurisdictions. According to the report, despite their unofficial status, these troops operated in coordination with Russia's regular military and were given benefits back home normally available to serving soldiers.<ref name="reutersghosts"/> Russian contractors fighting in Syria are reportedly paid $6,500 a month.<ref name="reuters2">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-fighters/dying-for-a-paycheck-the-russian-civilians-fighting-in-syria-idUSKBN1EF0RI |title=Dying for a paycheck: the Russian civilians fighting in Syria |first=Maria |last=Tsvetkova |editor-first=Timothy |editor-last=Heritage |publisher=[[Reuters]] |date=December 21, 2017 |access-date=21 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171221110658/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-fighters/dying-for-a-paycheck-the-russian-civilians-fighting-in-syria-idUSKBN1EF0RI |archive-date=21 December 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to publications by Russian media, Russian contract fighters had taken part in combat in Syria before the formal Russian intervention began in September 2015.<ref>[https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2016/03/22_a_8137565.shtml Российские наемники в боях за Пальмиру] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424161115/https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2016/03/22_a_8137565.shtml |date=24 April 2019 }} [[Gazeta.ru]], 24 March 2016.</ref> According to an official in a Ukrainian law enforcement agency, at least 1,700 Russian contractors have been deployed to Syria, many of whom had earlier served in Ukraine.<ref name="reuters2"/>

==Russian nationals fighting for rebel/jihadist groups==
In May 2016, [[Reuters]] published a Special Report titled "How Russia allowed homegrown radicals to go and fight in Syria" that, based on first-hand accounts, said that at least in the period between 2012 and 2014 the Russian government agencies appeared to run a programme to facilitate and encourage Russian radicals and militants to leave Russia and go to Turkey and then on to [[Syria]]; the persons in question had joined jihadist groups, some fighting with the [[ISIL]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/russia-militants/|title=How Russia allowed homegrown radicals to go and fight in Syria|work=Reuters|date=13 May 2016|access-date=7 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209120510/https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/russia-militants/|archive-date=9 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

A top leader of ISIL, [[Abu Omar al-Shishani]], initially led a group of several hundred fighters, mostly from [[Post-Soviet states|ex-Soviet states]]. In June 2016 [[Nikolai Bordyuzha]] estimated that 10,000 militants from ex-Soviet states were fighting alongside jihadist groups in the Middle East, including Syria.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-blast-ussr-idUSKCN0ZK0AW|title=Ex-Soviet exiles give Islamic State violence a Russian accent|work=Reuters|date=4 July 2016|access-date=7 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009050216/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-blast-ussr-idUSKCN0ZK0AW|archive-date=9 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2016, the British press cited ″experts″ as believing that ISIL fielded at least three exclusively Russian-speaking "[[Caucasus|Caucasian]]" (often led by [[Chechen people|Chechens]]) battalions of about 150 men each.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/30/fighters-from-dagestan-flow-into-syria-to-join-the-islamic-state/ 'Your son has become a martyr': the Russian fighters from Dagestan rising up the ranks of Islamic State] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415104027/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/30/fighters-from-dagestan-flow-into-syria-to-join-the-islamic-state/ |date=15 April 2019 }} The Telegraph, 30 July 2017.</ref>

==Cooperation attempts with U.S. and UK==
[[File:Secretary Kerry Meets With Turkish Foreign Minister Sinirlioglu, Saudi Foreign Minister al-Jubeir, and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Before Quadrilateral Meeting in Austria Focused on Syria (22580971515).jpg|thumb|The foreign ministers of the US, Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia in Vienna, before a four-way discussion focused on Syria, October 29, 2015]]
Putin's proposal, mid-October 2015, that the U.S. receive a high-level Russian delegation and that a U.S. delegation arrive in Moscow to discuss coordinated action against terrorism in Syria was declined by both the United States<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-lavrov-idUKKCN0S810P20151014?mod=related&channelName=worldNews|title=Russia's Lavrov says Washington declines deeper military talks on Syria|work=NEWSru|date=14 October 2015|access-date=17 October 2015}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsru.com/russia/14oct2015/lavrov.html|title="Это обидно": Лавров сообщил, что США отказались принять делегацию РФ для обсуждения сирийского кризиса|work=NEWSru|date=14 October 2015|access-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015234946/http://newsru.com/russia/14oct2015/lavrov.html|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 
and the United Kingdom.<ref name=Times26Oct>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4596253.ece|title=Britain has frozen us out, says Russian envoy|work=The Times|access-date=26 October 2015|date=26 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151028003145/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4596253.ece|archive-date=28 October 2015|url-status=live|last1=Parfitt|first1=Tom}}</ref><ref>[http://newsru.com/world/26oct2015/yakovenko.html Российский посол в Лондоне обвинил Британию в замораживании дипломатических контактов с РФ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424180755/https://www.newsru.com/world/26oct2015/yakovenko.html |date=24 April 2019 }} [[NEWSru]], 26 October 2015.</ref>

==Discussing a long-term political settlement==
On 20 October 2015, three weeks into the [[Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War|Russian military campaign in Syria]], Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] met Syrian President [[Bashar al-Assad]] in Moscow to discuss their joint military campaign "against terrorism" and "a long-term settlement, based on a political process that involves all political forces, ethnic and religious groups" in Syria.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/world/middleeast/assad-putin-syria-russia.html|title=Assad Makes Unannounced Trip to Moscow to Discuss Syria With Putin|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 October 2015|date=21 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026211444/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/world/middleeast/assad-putin-syria-russia.html|archive-date=26 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50533|title=Meeting with President of Syria Bashar Assad|work=President of Russia|date=21 October 2015|access-date=23 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021213106/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/50533|archive-date=21 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Reactions==
{{see also|Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War#Reactions}}

===Domestic===
In May 2012, the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] and its primate [[Patriarch Kirill of Moscow|Patriarch Kirill I]] were reported by the U.S. mainstream press to be supportive of the existing government in Syria; the Church's leadership alluded to the potential threat to [[Christianity in Syria|Christians in Syria]] that had comprised 10% of the country's population.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/europe/russian-church-opposes-syrian-intervention.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title=Russian Church Is a Strong Voice Opposing Intervention in Syria|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Barry, Ellen|date=31 May 2012|access-date=11 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015222749/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/europe/russian-church-opposes-syrian-intervention.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|archive-date=15 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2015, one of Russia's [[Islam in Russia|Muslim]] (Sunni) leaders, Chief Mufti [[Talgat Tadzhuddin]] said: "We fully back the use of a contingent of Russian armed forces in the battle against international terrorism."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/news/church-says-russia-fighting-holy-battle-syria-131509732.html|title=Church Says Russia Fighting 'Holy Battle' in Syria|work=[[Yahoo! News]]|date=30 September 2015|access-date=29 March 2021}}</ref>

In November 2015, Tadzhuddin publicly claimed that he had proposed to Vladimir Putin that Syria be annexed.

In early January 2016, Patriarch Kirill publicly endorsed Russia's military operation in Syria, saying that the campaign in that country that "is literally our neighbour" was "defence of the fatherland".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.interfax.ru/russia/488620 |title=Патриарх Кирилл поддержал военную операцию России в Сирии |work=Interfax |date=7 January 2016 |access-date=9 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109172026/http://www.interfax.ru/russia/488620 |archive-date=9 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2705844&cid=520|title=Патриарх Кирилл: военные действия РФ в Сирии – это и есть защита Отечества|access-date=9 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110001357/http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2705844&cid=520|archive-date=10 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/4327642.html|title=Рождественское интервью Святейшего Патриарха Кирилла телеканалу『Россия』/ Патриарх / Патриархия.ru|access-date=9 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114060558/http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/4327642.html|archive-date=14 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2019, ''The Moscow Times'' reported that "Fifty-five percent of Russian respondents say their country should end its military campaign in Syria, up from 49 percent in August 2017, according to a poll published by [[Levada Center|Levada]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=Fewer Than Half of Russians Support Syria Campaign, Poll Says |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/05/06/fewer-than-half-of-russians-support-syria-campaign-poll-says-a65494 |work=[[The Moscow Times]] |date=6 May 2019 |access-date=9 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508015417/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/05/06/fewer-than-half-of-russians-support-syria-campaign-poll-says-a65494 |archive-date=8 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to an August 2019 poll by Public Opinion Foundation, only 10% of Russians see the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War as a "success".<ref>{{cite news |title=The pandemic may change Russia's calculus in the Middle East |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/pandemic-change-russia-calculus-middle-east-200413135440728.html |work=Al Jazeera |date=13 April 2020}}</ref>

===Foreign===
[[File:Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 02.jpg|thumb|Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. [[Russia]], 2017]]
In January 2012, [[Human Rights Watch]] criticised Russia for "repeating the mistakes of Western governments during the [[Arab Spring]] by continuing to support a longstanding authoritarian ally [Assad] whose people have clearly expressed the desire for democratic change".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/23/russia-repeats-western-mistakes-arab-spring |title=Russia Repeats Western Mistakes in Arab Spring |date=23 January 2012 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=11 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006023003/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/23/russia-repeats-western-mistakes-arab-spring |archive-date=6 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> The human rights group also accused Russia of selectively using one of its reports to support a one-sided position on Syria.<ref>{{cite web |title= Russia: Selective Use of Syria Findings |url= https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/23/russia-selective-use-syria-findings |publisher= Human Rights Watch |date= 23 March 2012 |access-date= 30 June 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120607131343/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/23/russia-selective-use-syria-findings |archive-date= 7 June 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref>

Former UK ambassador to Russia from 2004 to 2008, [[Tony Brenton]], said in April 2012 that Russia is looking – in Syria – for its first opportunity since the Cold War to boost its brokering abilities.<ref name="Businessweek">{{dead link|date=October 2015}}{{cite news | first = Henry | last = Meyer | title = Putin Pins Hope on Syria Cease-Fire to Combat U.S. Supremacy | date = 20 April 2012 | url = http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-20/putin-pins-hope-on-syria-cease-fire-to-combat-u-dot-s-dot-supremacy | work = Bloomberg Businessweek | access-date = 20 April 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120423074538/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-20/putin-pins-hope-on-syria-cease-fire-to-combat-u-dot-s-dot-supremacy | archive-date = 23 April 2012 }}</ref>

In October 2015, [[Robert Fisk]], Middle East correspondent for ''[[The Independent]]'', wrote: "The Russian air force in Syria has flown straight into the West's fantasy air space. The Russians, we are now informed, are bombing the "moderates" in Syria – "moderates" whom even the Americans admitted two months ago, no longer existed."<ref>{{cite news |last=Fisk |first=Robert |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-s-moderates-have-disappeared-and-there-are-no-good-guys-a6679406.html |title=Syria's 'moderates' have disappeared ... and there are no good guys |work=The Independent |date=4 October 2015 |access-date=8 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008001613/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-s-moderates-have-disappeared-and-there-are-no-good-guys-a6679406.html |archive-date=8 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' opined that with anti-government insurgents in Syria receiving for the first time bountiful supplies of U.S.-made [[anti-tank missile]]s and with Russia raising the number of airstrikes against the government's opponents that had raised morale in both camps, broadening war objectives and hardening political positions, the conflict was turning into an all-out [[proxy war]] between the U.S. and Russia.<ref name="larger">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes.html|title=U.S. Weaponry Is Turning Syria into Proxy War With Russia|work=The New York Times|access-date=14 October 2015|date=12 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013211625/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes.html|archive-date=13 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> This analysis was shared by the Dutch quality newspaper ''[[NRC Handelsblad]]'' that drew parallels with the [[Soviet–Afghan War#Foreign involvement|situation in Afghanistan]] in the 1980s.<ref name="handelsbl">[http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/2015/10/14/in-syrie-dreigt-nu-een-proxy-oorlog-1544574 In Syrië dreigt nu een proxy-oorlog: Rusland vs Amerika VS leveren extra wapens aan rebellen die vechten tegen Assad, lees: Moskou. Terug naar jaren 80 in Afghanistan.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203104441/http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/2015/10/14/in-syrie-dreigt-nu-een-proxy-oorlog-1544574 |date=3 February 2016 }} ''[[NRC Handelsblad]]'', 14 October 2015 ("In Syria, a proxy-war now is looming").</ref>
In 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist [[Seymour Hersh]] expressed the view that Russia's military campaign against militant groups in Syria was "very good" and more effective than the U.S.-led campaigns, stating "I don't know why we persist on living in the Cold War, but we do. Russia actually did a very good job. They … did the bombing that was more effective than what we do, I think that's fair to say."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alternet.org/world/exclusive-interview-seymour-hersh-dishes-saudi-oil-money-bribes-and-killing-osama-bin-laden|title=Exclusive Interview: Seymour Hersh Dishes on Saudi Oil Money Bribes and the Killing of Osama Bin Laden|first=Ken|last=Klippenstein|date=20 April 2016|via=AlterNet|access-date=4 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502170319/http://www.alternet.org/world/exclusive-interview-seymour-hersh-dishes-saudi-oil-money-bribes-and-killing-osama-bin-laden|archive-date=2 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

*{{flag|US}}: The US-led coalition that is launching its own airstrikes against ISIS demanded that Russia stop attacking targets other than ISIS. "We call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians and to focus its efforts on fighting ISIL," said the US-led coalition.<ref name= REUTERS>{{cite web|title=US, allies ask Russia to halt strikes outside IS areas in Syria|date=3 October 2015|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1210559/us-allies-ask-russia-to-halt-strikes-outside-is-areas-in-syria|publisher=REUTERS|access-date=3 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004023936/http://www.dawn.com/news/1210559/us-allies-ask-russia-to-halt-strikes-outside-is-areas-in-syria|archive-date=4 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> it also objected to Assad's participation in the intelligence sharing.<ref name=Times>{{cite web |last1=Gordon |first1=Michael R. |title=Russia Surprises U.S. With Accord on Battling ISIS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/28/world/middleeast/iraq-agrees-to-share-intelligence-on-isis-with-russia-syria-and-iran.html?_r=0 |website=The New York Times |date=27 September 2015 |access-date=28 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709115836/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/28/world/middleeast/iraq-agrees-to-share-intelligence-on-isis-with-russia-syria-and-iran.html?_r=0 |archive-date=9 July 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> By the opposition other than ISIS it is meant the groups have received training and weapons from US and other Assad's enemies.<ref name= REUTERS/> "We do not support the presence of Syrian government officials who are part of a regime that has brutalized its own citizens," said Col. Steven H. Warren, the spokesman for the US-led coalition.<ref name=Times/>
* {{flag|Britain}}: "They are backing the butcher Assad, which is a terrible mistake, for them and the world," said [[British Prime Minister]] David Cameron.<ref name= REUTERS/><ref>{{cite news|title=Cameron condemns Russia's military action in Syria as 'terrible mistake' – video|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2015/oct/04/david-cameron-russia-military-syria-video|access-date=22 October 2015|agency=The Guardian|date=4 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118024327/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2015/oct/04/david-cameron-russia-military-syria-video|archive-date=18 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Asia|Russia}}
*[[Foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war]]
*[[Syrian peace process]]
*[[Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq Coalition]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130922022310/http://www.fiia.fi/en/publication/341/responsibility_to_protect..._itself/ Responsibility to protect... itself? Russia's strategy towards the crisis in Syria], FIIA Briefing Paper 131 (2013), [http://www.fiia.fi/en/home The Finnish Institute of International Affairs]

[[Category:Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war| ]]
[[Category:Russia–Syria military relations]]
[[Category:2010s in Russia]]

Edit summary (Briefly describe your changes)

By publishing changes, you agree to the Terms of Use, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License and the GFDL. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)

Copy and paste: – — ° ′ ″ ≈ ≠ ≤ ≥ ± − × ÷ ← → · § Cite your sources: <ref></ref>

{{}} {{{}}} | [] [[]] [[Category:]] #REDIRECT [[]]   <s></s> <code></code> <pre></pre> <blockquote></blockquote> <ref></ref> <ref name="" /> {{Reflist}} <references /> <includeonly></includeonly> <noinclude></noinclude> {{DEFAULTSORT:}} <nowiki></nowiki>

Symbols: ~ | ¡ ¿ † ‡ ↔ ↑ ↓ • ¶ # ∞ ‹› «» ¤ ₳ ฿ ₵ ¢ ₡ ₢ $ ₫ ₯ € ₠ ₣ ƒ ₴ ₭ ₤ ℳ ₥ ₦ № ₧ ₰ £ ៛ ₨ ₪ ৳ ₮ ₩ ¥ ♠ ♣ ♥ ♦ 𝄫 ♭ ♮ ♯ 𝄪 © ® ™
Latin: A a Á á À à Â â Ä ä Ǎ ǎ Ă ă Ā ā Ã ã Å å Ą ą Æ æ Ǣ ǣ B b C c Ć ć Ċ ċ Ĉ ĉ Č č Ç ç D d Ď ď Đ đ Ḍ ḍ Ð ð E e É é È è Ė ė Ê ê Ë ë Ě ě Ĕ ĕ Ē ē Ẽ ẽ Ę ę Ẹ ẹ Ɛ ɛ Ǝ ǝ Ə ə F f G g Ġ ġ Ĝ ĝ Ğ ğ Ģ ģ H h Ĥ ĥ Ħ ħ Ḥ ḥ I i İ ı Í í Ì ì Î î Ï ï Ǐ ǐ Ĭ ĭ Ī ī Ĩ ĩ Į į Ị ị J j Ĵ ĵ K k Ķ ķ L l Ĺ ĺ Ŀ ŀ Ľ ľ Ļ ļ Ł ł Ḷ ḷ Ḹ ḹ M m Ṃ ṃ N n Ń ń Ň ň Ñ ñ Ņ ņ Ṇ ṇ Ŋ ŋ O o Ó ó Ò ò Ô ô Ö ö Ǒ ǒ Ŏ ŏ Ō ō Õ õ Ǫ ǫ Ọ ọ Ő ő Ø ø Œ œ Ɔ ɔ P p Q q R r Ŕ ŕ Ř ř Ŗ ŗ Ṛ ṛ Ṝ ṝ S s Ś ś Ŝ ŝ Š š Ş ş Ș ș Ṣ ṣ ß T t Ť ť Ţ ţ Ț ț Ṭ ṭ Þ þ U u Ú ú Ù ù Û û Ü ü Ǔ ǔ Ŭ ŭ Ū ū Ũ ũ Ů ů Ų ų Ụ ụ Ű ű Ǘ ǘ Ǜ ǜ Ǚ ǚ Ǖ ǖ V v W w Ŵ ŵ X x Y y Ý ý Ŷ ŷ Ÿ ÿ Ỹ ỹ Ȳ ȳ Z z Ź ź Ż ż Ž ž ß Ð ð Þ þ Ŋ ŋ Ə ə
Greek: Ά ά Έ έ Ή ή Ί ί Ό ό Ύ ύ Ώ ώ Α α Β β Γ γ Δ δ Ε ε Ζ ζ Η η Θ θ Ι ι Κ κ Λ λ Μ μ Ν ν Ξ ξ Ο ο Π π Ρ ρ Σ σ ς Τ τ Υ υ Φ φ Χ χ Ψ ψ Ω ω {{Polytonic|}}
Cyrillic: А а Б б В в Г г Ґ ґ Ѓ ѓ Д д Ђ ђ Е е Ё ё Є є Ж ж З з Ѕ ѕ И и І і Ї ї Й й Ј ј К к Ќ ќ Л л Љ љ М м Н н Њ њ О о П п Р р С с Т т Ћ ћ У у Ў ў Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Џ џ Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я ́
IPA: t̪ d̪ ʈ ɖ ɟ ɡ ɢ ʡ ʔ ɸ β θ ð ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ ɦ ɱ ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ ʋ ɹ ɻ ɰ ʙ ⱱ ʀ ɾ ɽ ɫ ɬ ɮ ɺ ɭ ʎ ʟ ɥ ʍ ɧ ʼ ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ ɨ ʉ ɯ ɪ ʏ ʊ ø ɘ ɵ ɤ ə ɚ ɛ œ ɜ ɝ ɞ ʌ ɔ æ ɐ ɶ ɑ ɒ ʰ ʱ ʷ ʲ ˠ ˤ ⁿ ˡ ˈ ˌ ː ˑ ̪ {{IPA|}}

Wikidata entities used in this page

Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war: Sitelink, Title, Description: en

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Economy of Russia (view source) (semi-protected)
Economy of Syria (edit)
Geography of Russia (edit)
Geography of Syria (edit)
History of Russia (edit)
History of Syria (edit)
Index of Syria-related articles (edit)
Outline of Russia (edit)
Outline of Syria (edit)
Politics of Russia (edit)
Politics of Syria (edit)
Russia (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war (edit)
Syria (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Aligned table (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Allow wrap (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Blockquote (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Blockquote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Bulleted list (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Campaignbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Campaignbox Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Citation (view source) (protected)
Template:Citation/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Citation needed (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite AV media (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite magazine (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite news (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Clarify (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Coat of arms (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Collapsible list (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Country data Britain (edit)
Template:Country data US (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Country data United Kingdom (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Country data United States (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Country topics (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:DMCA (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (articles) (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dead link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (protected)
Template:FULLROOTPAGENAME (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix-span (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (protected)
Template:Flag (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Flag/core (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:For (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Further (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:History of Russia (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:ISBN (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:Main (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Nobold (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Nobold/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Note (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Nowrap (view source) (protected)
Template:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Parabr (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Template:Paragraph break (view source) (protected)
Template:Portal (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Portal-inline (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ref (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Region history sidebar title (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Resize (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Russia topics (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:See also (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Small (view source) (protected)
Template:Syria topics (edit)
Template:Syrian Civil War (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Template other (view source) (protected)
Template:Use dmy dates (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Vladimir Putin (edit)
Template:Webarchive (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wrap (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno-no (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno-yes (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:\ (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:• (view source) (protected)
Portal:Russia (edit)
Module:Aligned table (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Check isxn (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Collapsible list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:DecodeEncode (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:For (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:Labelled list hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:List (view source) (protected)
Module:Military navigation (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox with collapsible groups (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/rfd (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:Portal (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal-inline (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/images/a (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/images/r (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Redirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:Sidebar (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Sidebar/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Sidebar/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:WPMILHIST Infobox style (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Webarchive (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Webarchive/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

This page is a member of 15 hidden categories (help):

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_involvement_in_the_Syrian_civil_war" ●Privacy policy ●About Wikipedia ●Disclaimers ●Contact Wikipedia ●Code of Conduct ●Developers ●Statistics ●Cookie statement ●Mobile view