INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Seven years ago, President Vladimir Putin traveled to Syria to meet with his ally, then-Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, at Russia's
fold to a lightning two-week insurgent offensive.As Syria navigates its uncertain future, Assad's downfall carries considerable political,
Over the years, Russia's backing helped Assad regain much of the territory he had lost to opposition forces and the Islamic State,
cementing Moscow's role as a dominant player in the region.The swift collapse of Assad's regime in 2024 has upended that
surprise."What happened has surprised the whole world and, in this case, we are no exception," Peskov said.The United States -based
to get bogged down in a protracted conflict, and sooner or later this will lead to defeat," Smagin told The Moscow Times, explaining the
situation Assad found himself in.With Assad now seeking refuge in Moscow, the Kremlin has yet to decide what exactly to do with the forces
now in power in Syria, led by the Islamist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army umbrella group
For years, Russia has been on the opposite side of this power struggle and declared HTS a terrorist group.Yet the Kremlin appears willing to
strategy in the Middle East, hosting two strategically important sites on Syria's Mediterranean coast: the Hmeimim air base and the Tartus
naval base, which plays a key role in supporting Russia's maritime operations in the region.Following Assad's ousting, Russia appears to
Syria, negotiations were underway with the new authorities in Damascus to ensure the safety of Russian personnel and assets.Experts suggest
logistics in Africa.Marat Gabidullin, a former Wagner mercenary who fought in Syria, told The Moscow Times that Syria served as a key hub
for transporting Russian fighters to Africa
as a great power, maintaining a military presence there is important for both strategic reasons and to preserve prestige and authority,
analysis by the U.K.-based IHS Jane think tank commissioned by The Moscow Times in 2015, the cost of maintaining Russia's military
estimate that Russia's actual spending on its Syrian campaign at closer to $3 billion a year, as Moscow decided to deploy more troops into
It accounts for only 0.3% of the Middle East's proven oil reserves (2.5 billion barrels) and 0.4% of proven natural gas reserves (0.3
trillion cubic meters), analyst Kirill Rodionov noted.Instead, Moscow has moved to invest in Syria's mineral industry, which was thriving
Tartus, where Russia established a naval base
Kremlin-connected businessman Gennady Timchenko were allegedly granted access to a Syrian phosphate mine near the city of Palmyra
Syria is estimated to have substantial reserves of phosphates, which are used in the production of various goods, especially
