Su-25 aircraft and IL-78 transport aircraft fly to Khmeimim Air Base
Russia has deployed 12 Su-25 warplanes to its airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia, according to reports in Russian media outlets and blogs.
At least, four Russian Su-25 close-air-support aircraft and an Il-76 transport aircraft were spotted near the city of Hama in western Syria en route to the Khmeimim Airbase on January 10.
So, the reports about the deployment of additional attack aircraft can be described as confirmed.
This means that the Russian-Iranian-Syrian alliance is ready to restore major-scale operations against terrorists in case of fail the ceasefire efforts.
Russian naval air group is headed home, so another group rotates back to airbase. The only reduction of personnel is naval force? This is good planning, they fly over Idlib in broad daylight to let Al Nusra understand what is going on. They should be worried.
Next week Trump takes over. The US policy towards the Syrian conflict will change, hopefully signalling the demise of Isis , Al Nusrah and the other rebel crazies. Where does the end of this war leave the Syrian people?? Assad is only as strong as the forces that back him.The Syrian army ceased to exist as a force that could safeguard Syrian unity in 2013. Since then it has been shored up by Hezbollah , Iranians , 3rd country fighters , Russians,the NDF and powerful Alawite and Palestinian militias. The YPG and other Kurdish forces will want a Kurdish state. If Assad goes , who takes his place?? Will it be somebody from his inner circle or will it be so somebody from the pro government militias that back Assad on their own terms??
People always talk about Kurds wanting a Kurdish state, but the actual ideology of the more popular Kurdish groups (for example, PYD) don’t have much interest in nation states. They are Anarcho-Syndicalists. Nation states are viewed with suspicion as dangerous, antiquated and oppressive. What they want are 1.) a completely secular constitution that guarantees equal rights to all citizens, 2.) maximum local autonomy at every level, for everybody, Kurdish and non-Kurdish alike, and correspondingly, the minimum amount of centralised government necessary for for things to function efficiently 3.) the right of people in each locality to conduct business in their native language.