Russia supported the Ba'athist administration of former president Bashar al-Assad of Syria from the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011: politically, with military aid, and (from September 2015 to December 2024) with direct military involvement. The 2015 deployment to Syria marked the first time since the end of the Cold War in 1991 that Russia entered an armed conflict outside the borders of the former Soviet Union.
From October 2011, Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, repeatedly vetoed Western-sponsored draft resolutions in the UN Security Council that demanded the resignation of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and would thereby open the possibility of United Nations sanctions against his government. The Russian leadership rejects the demands of Western powers and their Arab allies that Bashar al-Assad should not be allowed to be a participant in the Syria settlement. In January and February 2012, the opposition Syrian National Council and the Western powers dismissed Russian peace initiatives.
In September 2015, the Federation Council, (the upper house of Russia's parliament) authorized the Russian president to use armed forces in Syria. Russian air and missile strikes began targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Army of Conquest, al-Nusra Front, and the Free Syrian Army. Russia has also provided armament and air support to Turkey. Russian military delivered 5 tons of ammunition and weapons to the People's Defense Units (part of the Syrian Democratic Forces) in Sheikh Maqsoud in their operations against ISIL in Syria.
During the course of the Russian intervention, Russia moved beyond bombing just military targets and began bombing hospitals and medical facilities.Russian hand seen behind increased bombing of Syrian hospitals . NBC News. Retrieved 16 October 2018. According to Airwars, between four and six thousand civilians were killed by Russian military actions.Syria conflict: 34% rise in civilian deaths caused by Russian airstrikes, report finds . Independent. Retrieved 16 October 2018. Due to this, Russia's seat at the UN Human Rights Council was taken away in October 2016.Russia Loses Seat at the UN Human Rights Council . The Diplomat. Retrieved 16 October 2018. A report by Airwars found a 34% increase in incidents of civilian harm caused by Russia during the first six months of 2018 compared to 2017.
Background
History of ties between Syria and Russia
During the Cold War (1947–1991), Syria was an ally to the Soviet Union in opposition to the Western powers, and a strong political bond grew. Between 1955 and 1958, Syria received about $294 million from the Soviet Union for military and economic assistance. The Suez War in 1956 accelerated a multiplication of ties between Syria and the Soviet Union, simultaneously with the increase in power and influence of the Syrian Ba'ath Party.A History of the Middle East, Peter Mansfield, Penguin 2010, 3rd edition, p.293
The Syrian Revolution of February 1966 gave the Soviet Union the opportunity to further support Syria. In 1971, under an agreement with the Syrian Ba'athist government's President Hafez al-Assad, the Soviet Union was allowed to open its naval military base in Tartus, giving the Soviet Union a stable presence in the Middle East.International New York Times, 3 October 2015. Thousands of Syrian military officers and educated professionals studied in Russia during President Hafez al-Assad's three-decade rule (1971–2000).
In April 1977, Hafez al-Assad visited Moscow, and met with Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin among others, as a sign of improved Syrian relations with the USSR. Three years later, in October 1980, Syria and the Soviet Union signed a twenty-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
At the beginning of the Syrian civil war (2011), Syria was one of Russia's closest Middle Eastern allies.
Syrian civil war
The Syrian Civil War is an ongoing international armed conflict taking place in Syria. The unrest began in the early spring of 2011 within the context of Arab Spring protests, with nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government, whose forces responded with violent crackdowns. The civil uprising phase created the platform for the emergence of militant opposition movements and massive defections from the Syrian Army, which gradually transformed the conflict from a civil uprising to an armed rebellion, and later civil war. The rebel Free Syrian Army was created on 29 July 2011 and from then on, the struggle took the shape of an armed insurgency, with civil resistance disbanded and opposition members turning to arms. Many factions arose, either as break-offs of the Free Syrian Army or spontaneously in their own rights.
The killing of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya reportedly left a particularly strong and consequential impression on Putin. A senior diplomat who had served at the U.S. embassy in Moscow under the Obama administration reportedly claimed that "Putin had been appalled by Gaddafi's fate"Seymour Hersh, 'Military to Military,' London Review of Books, Vol. 38 No. 1,7 January 2016 pp.11–14. Retrieved 13 May 2016. to the extent that "Putin had watched a video of Gaddafi's savage death three times, a video that shows him being sodomised with a bayonet." Referring to the U.S. coalition's lobbying efforts for the airstrikes at the United Nations, the U.S. diplomat was quoted as saying that a later U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that "Putin blamed himself for letting Gaddafi go, for not playing a strong role behind the scenes" and that the video may have even influenced Putin's decision to support Syrian president Bashar al-Assad since "Putin believed that unless he got engaged Bashar would suffer the same fate – mutilated – and he'd see the destruction of his allies in Syria."
By 2012 it was reported the U.S. was running a covert operation in aid of militant groups fighting the Assad government.
On 6 March 2013, the Arab League gave its members the green light to arm the Syrian rebels. On 26 March 2013, at the Arab league summit in Doha, the League recognised the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people.
Since 2014, a significant part of Syria's territory had been claimed by Islamic State (ISIL), an entity internationally recognised as a terrorist organization; a number of Western and other countries, most notably the U.S., Britain and France, began to participate in direct military action against ISIL in the territory of Syria.
Presumed motives
Military facilities
The Russian naval facility in Tartus in Syria is Russia's only naval facility in the Mediterranean region and only remaining military facility outside the former USSR. In March 2012, critics saw the position of the naval facility in Tartus as a chief motivating factor for Russia to speak out in favor of the Assad government maintaining stability in the region.
Russian jihadists in Syria
At least since mid 2013, Chechen and other Russian North Caucasus volunteers have been fighting in the Syrian Civil War against the government of Bashar al-Assad."Militants from Russia's North Caucasus join "jihad" in Syria ". Reuters. 6 March 2013. The Washington Post in 2014 reported that Moscow was concerned about such fighters returning to Russia after having picked up militant contacts in Syria."Why being Chechen is a badge of honor for Islamist militants ". The Washington Post. 3 July 2014.
As of September 2015, an estimated 2,500 Russian nationals were fighting alongside ISIL,"Security Service At Moscow Airport Detains Siberian Man Suspected To Join ISIS In Syria ". IBTimes. 24 September 2015. and President Putin declared that their return to Russia would be a threat to Russia, and that it would be better to fight them on Syrian ground.
Economic importance and history of arms sales
Russia has been able to showcase its old and new weapons in the conflict which helped boost its arms sales to $15bn in 2015.
Russian economic interests in Syria, including arms sales, are offered as one of the reasons for its support of the government. However, according to Foreign Affairs, economic considerations are of less importance than geopolitical ones. This is especially due to the fact that many Syrian arms purchases are financed by loans.
Casualties
Many Russian soldiers have died during the war. Russian officials estimate that as of January 2019, 112 soldiers have been killed since troops were sent to fight in Syria in 2015. The BBC has a higher estimation of 175 deaths having occurred from 2015 to the end of 2018.
In 2019, the Russian Armed Forces were accused of covering up the death one of its soldiers, junior sergeant Andranik Arustamyan. However, Arustamyan's family has defended the military and said that they were informed of his death.
Political efforts and statements
2011 At the end of May 2011, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia opposed United Nations' involvement in Syria because "the situation doesn't present a threat to international peace and security ... Syria is a very important country in the Middle East and destabilizing Syria would have repercussions far beyond its borders", and asserted that Assad had made attempts at major reform.
In June, both the US and other Western governments as well as Syrian protestersAl Jazeera Syria Live Blog: Saturday, 11 June 2011 – 10:33. http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-jun-11-2011-1133. Also at youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTmd5MFmhQc prevailed upon Russia to change its position, and finally a Syrian anti-government delegation visited Moscow and met with Russian envoy Mikhail Margelov, who after the meeting noted that "leaders come and go" and called for "an end to any and all forms of violence", which some interpreted to be a shift away from Assad, once a major ally, in foreign policy. "A harder line from Russia would be a blow to Syria which relies heavily on Russian military equipment and has long-standing ties to Moscow", the American nbcnews.com wrote that day.
On 19 July, Russian Prime minister, Dmitri Medvedev said he was working with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to find consensus for a strategy to persuade the Syrian government to abandon violence and begin a constructive dialogue with protesters. He did not threaten to use Russia's veto at the United Nations Security Council to oppose a resolution critical of the Syrian government, as Russia has previously said it could do. Medvedev also said it was imperative that Syria not slide into civil war the way Libya did in 2011.
Amid the siege of Hama, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 1 August documenting deaths in Hama as well as condemning the violence, including the alleged killing of eight policemen by Assad's government. The statement beseeched the pro-Assad forces as well as the violent protesters to "exercise maximum restraint".
On 3 August, Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin stated that Russia will not oppose a UN resolution condemning the violence in Syria as long as it does not include sanctions or other "pressures". Al Jazeera reported that Russia had "softened the blow" to the Assad government by insisting successfully that the UN would make a statement rather than a resolution on the matter.Al Jazeera Libya Live Blog. "Syria – Aug 4, 2011 – 07:32 " On 23 August, the Russian delegation to the UN, along with those of China and Cuba, took to the floor to denounce a UN inquiry into human rights violations by the Assad government. Vitaly Churkin stated that "We hope to see progress, we hope to see dialogue established in Syria. ... We think we should continue to work within the scope of that unified position."