Russia’s General Staff has stated that the active phase of its involvement in combat operations in Syria is drawing to a close, without any hint that this might involve withdrawing its forces or even entirely ceasing to conduct airstrikes. The complexity of the emerging post-conflict... MORE

In early August 2017, Malhama Tactical, an unusual militant group operating in Syria and sometimes labelled the “Blackwater of jihad,” issued a statement in which it hinted at a planned expansion into China and alluded to the experiences of China’s Uighur population in the western... MORE

The fall of the main Islamic State (IS) strongholds in Syria challenges Moscow to become more focused on the political process of conflict settlement. Nevertheless, recent diplomatic moves made by Moscow appear rather muddled at first glance. On the one hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin... MORE

The meeting of three presidents—Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani—in Sochi last Wednesday (November 22), was supposed to mark a triumph for Russian foreign policy. But instead, the trilateral summit sent confusing signals and left mixed feelings. A day before... MORE

On the afternoon of September 19, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launched from an airstrip near the Syrian capital of Damascus flew into the demilitarized zone that separates the Syrian-controlled area of the Golan Heights from that which is controlled by Israel. The Israeli military... MORE

On October 16, the Israeli Air Force launched a precision attack, in the Damascus area, against a Russian-supplied S-200 air-defense battery under the control of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). The aerial raid was conducted partly in response to a March incident involving its aircraft... MORE

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that his country’s military operation in Syria is “close to conclusion” (see EDM, October 17). The Islamic State—once a sizable quasi-state, stretching from the outskirts of Iraqi Bagdad to Aleppo, in Syria—has lost control of all major cities, including... MORE

Following recent Russian media coverage of the success of the Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno Kosmicheskikh Sil—VKS) in their operations in Syria, there are renewed indications that Moscow is seeking some kind of exit strategy. Despite earlier reports of a Russian withdrawal from Syria, which merely provided... MORE

The advance into the oil and natural gas–rich northeastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and supported by Russian bombing sorties has been heralded by the Kremlin as “a very important strategic victory.” The besieged provincial capital of Deir... MORE

Veteran career diplomat Ambassador John Tefft (68), who was pulled out of retirement to man the United States’ Moscow mission in 2014, following the acute crisis precipitated by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the onset of the war in the Donbas, left the Russian capital... MORE