This is a great economic expansion plan for Russia.
Putin! You magnificent Bastuhd!
So send them, we’ll shoot them and you can put desperate Ruskies to work building more.
Frickin AwhMazing!
It would make Russia look good to the remaining secular dictators by propping up Assad over the Jihadis.
It disrupts expansion of Jihadis who have been causing problems in Chechnya for years.
Protecting the Tartarus base keeps them relevant in the Mediterranean.
It keeps Russia relevant in world affairs. They could even say they are the new power in the Middle East since the U.S. is withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan and made things worse in Libya and Egypt by tossing missiles and letting extremists take over.