Russia already had a decades-long relationship with the Assad government, and had military bases there before the civil war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin used his country’s presence in Syria, and support of Assad, to challenge the power and dominance of the West in the region.
In 2015, Russia launched an air campaign and sent thousands of troops in support of the Assad regime.
In return, Russia received 49-year leases on an air base and naval base, which provided crucial hubs in the eastern Mediterranean for transferring military contractors in and out of Africa.
This marked an important stage in Russia’s attempt to assert itself as a global power, previously focusing its efforts on nations that were once in the Soviet bloc.
But fighting a war in Ukraine since 2022 preoccupied Assad’s ally, contributing to the Syrian military’s swift defeat to rebel groups in late November and early December.
Assad and his family were granted asylum in Moscow after fleeing Damascus, Russian media reported.