Thanks BeadCounter. What were they doing? They were playing the same role for Putin that the Hezbollah and the Afghan conscripts play/played for Khamenei, taking the brunt to avoid official casualties in an unpopular intervention. Syria is a quagmire, and Pooty-poot doesn't have a way out. Meanwhile I've begun to think that the young hereditary dictator Assad is a political genius. :^)
Thoroughly depressing news - and I know some people in the Russian armed forces — but thankfully in easy posts and not stationed in Syria.
So sneaky of the Kremlin to hide these death tolls behind the “mercenary” label.
Syria is a mess with no easy answers, but one thing is certain: Vladimir Putin is not to be trusted. I just don’t see how cooperation with Russia on any level in the region is possible unless Putin does a completely 180 or until there’s new leadership in the country.
Maybe a miracle will happen on March 18th elections?!
Personally I foresee one happening just not that soon.