What We Know, and Don’t Know, About Russia’s Surge Into Syria

What We Know, and Don’t Know, About Russia’s Surge Into Syria | War Is Boring:
"Since Sept. 19, Moscow has sent almost 30 warplanes – including advanced Su-30SM Flanker fighter jets, Su-24 Fencer bombers and Su-25 Frogfoot ground attackers – to Al Assad International Airport in Syria’s northwestern Latakia province.
While a dramatic turn of events, the deployment is only part of a massive buildup of Russian men and materiel in the country that became particularly visible at the end of August.
It’s clear Moscow is making important moves.
Figuring out the Kremlin’s actual objectives is a more difficult proposition.
The Russians “likely have both minimum and maximum goals in Syria,” Paul Schwartz, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, posited to War Is Boring in an email. “It indicates that Russia probably had serious concerns about the ability of the Assad regime to hold on to what it still has, much less to recapture lost territory.”"