Putin Doesn’t Care if Assad Wins. It’s About Russian Power Projection.

Russia's military adventurism in Syria is about guaranteeing its own long-term future in the Middle East.

BY JEFFREY MANKOFF, ANDREW BOWEN-SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin wants Syria to know it still has a friend in Russia. Last week, more than a dozen military flights from Russia to Syria reportedly delivered six T-90 tanks, 15 howitzers, 35 armored personnel carriers, 200 marines, and housing for as many as 2,000 military personnel. Moscow has also reportedly delivered surveillance drones, attack helicopters, armored carriers, over two dozen fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles (including an SA-22 air defense system), and four Su-30 aircraft. Russia also established a new base south of Latakia, Syria’s northern port city, and is continuing the expansion of its naval base in Tartus, about 50 miles south of Latakia.

Putin Doesn’t Care if Assad Wins. It’s About Russian Power Projection. by Thavam Ratna