Page 10 - The Indian EYE 010325

OPINION JANUARY 03, 2025 | The Indian Eye 10

RUSSIA HAS NOT

LOST EVERYTHING

IN SYRIA

Now, with Assad’s regime gone, Moscow is looking towards a period of uncertainty

as the new regime is still taking its shape. Moscow’s primary goal, in this context, lies in securing its
naval and air bases—Tartus Naval base, which gives Russia access to the Mediterranean, and the

Khmeimim Air Base, established in 2015—to ensure its continued presence in the country

AMAN KUMAR

he Syrian Arab Army could
not survive a two-week com-
Tbined assault of various op-
position forces, and crumbled like a
deck of cards leading to the end of
the iron-fisted rule of the Assad fam-
ily in Syria. The joint operation of the
anti-Assad forces came at a crucial
time when both Russia and Iran were
preoccupied with their own region-
al conflicts. The Asad family, which
had ruled Syria for the last fifty years
amidst allegations of torture, human
rights violations and use of harsh
force against its own people, was
the last surviving bastion against the
Arab Spring that swept the Middle
East in 2011.
Basar al-Assad had managed to
survive 13 long years of civil war with
the support of allies like Russia and
Iran, who heavily invested in the Syr-
ian regime due to their own geopolit-
ical interests in the region.

Now that Assad is gone, prob-
ably forever, and Syria is tran-
sitioning to a new government,
it would be crucial to see how Basar al-Assad had managed to survive 13 long years of civil war with the support of allies like Russia and Iran, who heavily invested in the
Syrian regime due to their own geopolitical interests in the region (Agency file photo)
Russia navigates these troubled
waters. It is crucial to note that To begin with, the fall of Assad nationals to leave Syria in what was Russian-backed militias fighting on
the Assad regime has decimat- regime is a clear blow to Russia’s in- seen as a rare display of concern. Assad’s side and a regular supply of
The story of Russian interven-
ed at a time when the broad- terest in the Middle East. Kremlin tion in Syria began in 2015 when Russian weapons.
By March 2015, the Syrian gov-
had invested heavily in ensuring the
er Middle East is undergoing regime’s survival, and even massive Basar al Assad asked Kremlin to ernment had already lost key pro-
great churn due to the ongoing airstrikes against Syrian rebels when intervene in the ongoing civil war as vincial capitals like Idlib and Raqqa
Israeli operations in Gaza and the assault began in early days of De- his regime was on the verge of col- and was struggling to hold territories,
lapse. This was despite direct support
such as Hama, Homs and Damascus
cember. However, by the end of the
the broader Israel-Iran rivalry. first week, the Russian embassy in from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary countryside. The Russian interven-
Damascus had already instructed its Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian and Continued on next page... >>
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