Russia and the United States in Syria

A brief look at the roles Moscow and Washington are playing in Syria today

The war in Syria has raged since 2011. Government troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have been fighting both rebels in the anti-Assad opposition and the terrorist group ISIL. Secular rebel groups are at war with Assad's forces, ISIL, and other radical Islamists. ISIL is fighting everyone else. There are foreign powers intervening in this mess, as well, particularly the United States and Russia. Washington wants to remove Assad from power, arguing that he responsible for provoking this conflict by using violence against the opposition, when it was still peaceful. Moscow regards Assad as the legitimate head of the Syrian state and has supported his regime with weapons and now air strikes. Meduza explains what exactly the US and Russia are doing in Syria today.

Russia in Syria

Moscow has made no secret of its weapons shipments to the Assad regime, which has received from Russia small arms, armored personnel carriers, trucks, and more. Russia has also supplied the Syrian government with Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon systems, Buk-M2 surface-to-air missile systems, and K-300P Bastion-P coastal defense missile systems. Russia's total military contracts with Syria in 2012 were estimated to be worth roughly half a billion dollars. Russian military trainers are currently stationed in Syria, teaching Syrian soldiers how to use these weapons. It's not known exactly how many Russian personnel are in Syria today.

Since early August 2015, Moscow has accelerated its delivery of weapons to Syria. Russia also deployed to an airfield near the main Syrian port of Latakia 32 combat aircraft, air-defense systems, artillery, and tanks. The Russian military has also reportedly constructed temporary housing that can accommodate several thousand soldiers. Moscow has additionally deployed 1,700 soldiers to its naval base in Tartus, which was first established during the Soviet era.

On September 30, the Federation Assembly voted unanimously to authorize the use of Russia's armed forces abroad. According to the Kremlin, Russia's main objective is the fight against ISIL in Syria. Defense Ministry officials say Russia's first operations in Syria were "surgical strikes against ISIL," supposedly targeting a command post and control center. According to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, however, Russian air strikes targeted areas under the control of the anti-Assad opposition, not ISIL. Syrian human rights groups have also reported that new air strikes (presumably carried out by Russian bombers) have resulted in the deaths of civilians, including many children. Vladimir Putin has said such reports are "information attacks" against Russia, designed to discredit its campaign in Syria.

At nightfall on October 1, Russia launched the second day of its air strikes, bombing the headquarters of a terrorist group and ammunition depot in Idlib, as well as a fortified command post near Hama (to the north of Homs). According to public data, these regions are also under the control of the anti-Assad rebels, not ISIL.

Russian officials have clarified that their bombing campaign isn't directly exclusively at ISIL, saying the air strikes are also targeting other terrorist organizations. Judging by the bombs dropped so far, and statements by Russian officials, Moscow regards members of the Syrian opposition to be terrorists, as well. According to Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, "The Free Syria Army [the secular rebels who enjoy US support] is a fiction dreamt up by the Americans, and its members have all joined ISIL."

The United States in Syria

Since 2012, the US has supplied Syrian rebels with both humanitarian aid (food and medicine) and arms (ammunition, guns, and anti-tank weapons). Washington supports the so-called "moderate opposition," which fights against ISIL, radical Islamist groups, and the government of Bashar al-Assad.

The US provides training to the rebels. In May 2015, the Pentagon launched a special program to train anti-Assad fighters, but by September the effort was declared a failure by the Defense Department. US officials initially hoped to train as many as 12,000 fighters. Instead, only about 54 men completed the program. This group was sent to fight an al-Qaeda formation and was promptly routed. The Pentagon reportedly had such difficulty with this training program because most applicants wished to use the training in the war against the Assad regime, though Washington's aim was to turn them loose on ISIL. A secret CIA program, operating in Syria since at least 2013, turned out to be more effective, managing to train as many as 5,000 rebel fighters.

The US-led international coalition against ISIL includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and other countries. This coalition has conducted air strikes in Syria against ISIL and other terrorist groups. According to data available in August 2015, the US-led coalition has carried out attacks on more than 10,000 targets in Syria, bombing the oil infrastructure, military equipment, and bases under the control of ISIL and other terrorists. The US spends roughly $10 million every day to continue its air strikes in Syria.