This should not be a surprise to anyone. The Russians where supporting Saddam. The Russians had their goons in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country until the invasion started, and most likely afterwards, before they flew out. Most probably it will eventually be found at least some of those convoys into Syria contained Russian documentation they did not want to leave behind. Most likely as much that could be shoved into their cargo planes etc., would have existed Saddam Int. asap.
Well, if the Russians had any involvement, we knew every bit of it. The one thing we were always really good at was reading their mail.