The first instalment of our Putin in Syria blog can be found here. Russia Repeats Denials Of Troops In Syria Despite Soldiers’ Testimony And Reports From Hama 2015-09-18 15:20:02 The state-owned TASS news agency reports that the Russian Defence Ministry has denied that Russian contract soldiers are being deployed to Syria, following the publication of […]
Over the last few days there have been numerous reports that the Kremlin is deploying military force to prop up the Assad regime in Syria, under the pretence of combating ISIS. The Interpreter will now cover these developments on a daily basis on our Putin in Syria blog. The Russian Military Intervention In Syria So Far […]
This is a cross-post from Oryx Blog: The past few days have seen a steep increase of evidence revealing the true extent of direct military involvement by the Russian military on the ground in Syria. The sighting of recently delivered Russian UAVs and Russian BTR-82A infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) in addition to sound fragments confirming […]
The Geneva II conference on Syria starts this week. The Syrian National Coalition, the internationally recognized opposition group, has decided that it will attend. The SNC also indicated last week that hopes for success were slim. But those hopes have now fallen to zero. This is not my wish, nor my opinion, but the only […]
Syria has sacked their deputy prime minister, Qadri Jamil, without warning. Any sudden change in the Assad regime is likely to spark controversy and conspiracy theory. Jamil is a member of the opposition party recognized by the President’s party, the Ba’ath party. Jamil’s party is often seen as a farce as it is fairly closely tied […]
Drawing on some of the material first translated and published at The Interpreter, I’ve made another attempt to explain why, in spite of the United States’ dogged efforts, the Kremlin is not abandoning its position on Syria — if anything, it’s digging in further. My column at NOW Lebanon this week: The United States pretends to […]
The New Times has gone to London, Moscow, Tel-Aviv and Damascus to learn about the new diplomatic duel between the Kremlin and the West, the Russian missile systems provided to Assad and its impact on regional dynamics. The talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin with Russian Foreign Minister […]
Within the space of the last 24 hours, the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have shed more light on the steady and unchanged nature of the Russian-Syrian military relationship. First, the Times reported that Russia has sent advanced Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria “outfitted with an advanced radar that makes them more […]
