How Russia flexes its military might in Syria

Since Russia began fighting a serious civil war two years ago, the world's media has been attracting media to show how well the campaign is going and most tours begin around this time. This is Russia's air base near the coastal city of Latakia. For a week, journalists would cross paths. cross Syria without knowing where they fly until the day when it almost always begins with bombing missions against Isis targets the heat of the engines the sound everything is intense, a Russian officer boasted to us now you can feel the power of Russia after six years of brutality destruction and intelligible suffering the Syrian Civil War has reached a turning point the Islamic State is close to defeat Russia is trying to regain its status while remaining in the Middle East and wants the world to be given credit for the victory at the peak of its influence some 10 million people lived under the control of the Islamic State in Syria and next door in Iraq, but now ISIS is going to retreat into the eastern Syrian desert.

The front line is now near Deer Azure and the

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is eager to get journalists there. Deer Ozora had been surrounded by ISIS forces for three years, humanitarian airdrops were necessary to prevent tens of thousands of people from dying of starvation. Syrian government troops, with Russian help, finally broke through to relieve the siege just days before our group arrived. Russia is a very very good friend, we like Russia, we respect and appreciate them. This merchant told reporters that it was not just Russia that wanted to liberate Diras or beyond those hills, the opposition Free Syrian Army and US-backed militias are also racing to get close here.

Syria's main oil fields are a source of wealth or whoever controls them the battlefield in Syria is immensely complicated there are Syrian government troops opponents of the government Islamic groups and many militias all of which are backed by different foreign powers United States Iran Turkey and Russia for now there is a general agreement not to attack each other but to focus on defeating the Islamic State. It is overwhelming to see how six years of civil war have ruined this country. The destruction of the historic city of Aleppo is catastrophic, but the destruction is absolutely everywhere in Aleppo. city ​​square where only minimal posters of the dictator Bashar al-Assad's struggle could be seen or among the first things to be restored the workers were also tiled, but such an immense reconstruction requires billions of dollars from the richest economies in the world And as long as Assad remains in power with Russian support, those countries have shown no interest in going beyond humanitarian work.

A stop at a Syrian school seemed to suggest that Vladimir Putin's government is helping Syrian children and their teachers, but How could he have made it clear that there were no fact sheets or background reports? Allah Allah hates himself nor was there much time to talk to the Syrians almost by chance the journalists discovered that this teacher had lost a leg and nine school children died when a rocket hit the building the relentless pace of the trip ensured much smiling faces appeared on camera, smiles were missing in the context, the tour showed some examples of Russians helping civilians on the outskirts of Homs, for example, Russian aid trucks appeared among people on both the opposition and government sides, we can Arguably, such scenes are aimed very much at Russians at home, as polls from the international community suggest that the Russian public is, at best, lukewarm to the idea of ​​being in Syria.

Russia's government may want to keep its ally in Syria in power to enhance its influence in the Middle East, but many Russians remember their

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stalling in Afghanistan in the 1980s. They worried that Syria could be a compromise. that never ends. With a journey into the depths of the desert to the newly liberated city of Ichabod. The tour returned to a military theme. 10,000 people once lived here. but the place is now deserted how many people were executed in this Sharia court that the Russians displayed was never said nor how many Russian bombs fell on this place the alleged bombing of civilians is probably the most controversial issue of Russia's involvement in this conflict Russia faced international outrage when eastern Aleppo was bombed in 2016, but denied that its planes targeted civilians, only insurgents, it was hailed that much of the world mocked on this trip.

Russian military leaders echoed similar denials about civilian casualties, but it was impossible to verify anything that stood. In what used to be an Isis tank factory, the Russian general announced that the final phase of the war would be to hunt down and kill as many Isis militants as possible. Many Isis fighters, in fact, come from Russia's Caucasus region, so they are best hunted in Syria. and hunt them at home, the most important conclusion after observing Russia's military operation for a week is that Isis as a caliphate seems to be standing, but even without territory, Isis could still be a dangerous terrorist organization as it was at the beginning of this Russian conflict.

Air power, including cruise missiles fired into the sea and technical know-how on the ground, have made the decisive difference in this conflict, but the many complaints about the Assad regime that led different factions to go to war in first place remain unresolved. not healing Syria Chris Brown CBC News in Moscow