Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg: Putin's Goals in Syria Went Beyond Saving Assad
A Russian general's post-mortem reveals that the conflict was used to test weapons and gain combat experience.
The Russian Defense Ministry is denying a report by a leading Moscow newspaper that seven Russian warplanes were destroyed in a New Year's Eve attack on the Khmeimim air base in Syria. Two Russian servicemen died in the attack, according to the ministry. Clearly, fighting in Syria isn't over for Russia yet, despite President Vladimir Putin's self-congratulatory conversations with Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad.
Recently, however, General Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia's General Staff, made public his post-mortem of the Syrian operation, revealing Russia's military priorities in Syria and its persistent conviction that every conflict in which it is involved is a proxy war against the U.S. That war won't be over even once Syrian violence subsides.
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WNU Editor: A costly way to test new weapons, tactics, and to gain combat experience.
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