DAMASCUS —
Russia, which invaded Ukraine last week, has honed its military know-how and
sharpened its tactics after intervening over six years ago in Syria to shore up
key ally President Bashar Al-Assad.
اضافة اعلان
The launch of Russia’s military intervention
in Syria marked a turning point in Assad’s fortunes, and has enabled Moscow to
deepen its military, economic, and cultural ties with the regime.
Since pro-democracy groups first sought
Assad’s ouster in 2011, more than 500,000 people have been killed and the
relentless conflict has triggered a wave of millions of refugees across the
Middle East and Europe.
Military
presence
In
2015, Russia began air strikes in Syria to support Assad’s struggling troops.
It helped pro-regime forces wrest back lost
territory in a series of victories against rebels and Islamist extremists
involving deadly bombardments and massive destruction.
More than 63,000 Russian military personnel
have deployed to Syria, Moscow says.
It is unclear how many are currently stationed
there.
Moscow has two military bases in Syria: the
aerodrome in Hmeimim in the northwest and the naval port of Tartus, further
south.
They are protected by S-300 and S-400 air
missile defense systems.
Russia rules the skies across most of the
war-torn country and the role of its air force there has been celebrated at
home.
Bomber planes such as the Tu-22 and Tu-160
have flown from Russia to hit targets in Syria.
Russian warships and submarines have also
played a prominent role backing Moscow’s bombing campaign by firing missiles at
Daesh targets from the Mediterranean.
Most of Russia’s latest weapon systems have
been tested in Syria, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in August,
according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
Officials and observers point out the
presence of a “shadow army” of Russian mercenaries in Syria, including those
working for private military company Wagner, which also deployed fighters in
Ukraine in past months.
Economic
footprint
Six
years on, the Kremlin benefits from an outsized role in Syria’s economy owing
to its political and military ties with the Assad regime.
In recent years, Damascus and Moscow have
signed several deals in energy, construction, and agriculture.
They include one for Russian firm
Stroytransgaz to take over Syria’s largest port of Tartus for 49 years.
Another deal awarded the same company a
50-year concession to extract phosphate in the central region of Palmyra.
In March 2020, the Syrian government signed
a $22 million production-sharing agreement with the General Petroleum
Organization and Stroytransgaz, according to the Syria Report, an online
economic publication.
The deal authorized the Russian company to
demine, rehabilitate, explore, and develop the Al-Thawra oil fields without
paying taxes to the Syrian government, it said.
Between September 2019 and January 2020,
Syria awarded four new oil exploration contracts to several Russian companies,
the Syria Report added.
“A company called Capital was granted a
contract for an offshore block, while Mercury and Velada signed three contracts
between them for onshore blocks,” the publication said this month.
The three companies were unheard of prior to
these contracts.
Moscow has lent Damascus very limited
amounts of financial aid, but it has supplied Syria with wheat as a form of
assistance.
The Syrian government relies on Moscow for
the bulk of its wheat imports.
On Thursday, the Syrian government adopted
measures to shield its war-hit economy from the repercussions of Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, state media said.
To shore up stocks of fuel and wheat, the
Syrian government suggested it will limit distribution of basic imports to
allow supplies to last for at least two months.
Cultural
influence
Russian
President Vladimir Putin has gained celebrity status across government-held
Syria, and has visited the country at least twice since 2017.
In towns and villages near Moscow’s bases in
Tartus and Latakia, pictures of Putin hang from utility poles and buildings
beside Russian flags.
In Damascus, Russian flags and posters of
Putin appear in popular markets, and a few government buildings.
In the heart of the capital, a
newly-renovated Russian cultural center offers language lessons, workshops and
lectures, while Syrian state TV airs a daily news bulletin in Russian.
The Syrian education ministry added Russian
as an optional second foreign language in schools after English or French in
2014.
The Faculty of Arts at the University of Damascus houses
a Russian language department, and more than 100 schools across Syria teach the
language.
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