{"id":135182,"date":"2024-12-09T19:29:36","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T12:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=135182"},"modified":"2024-12-09T19:29:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T12:29:36","slug":"fall-of-assad-is-a-blow-to-russias-prestige","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=135182","title":{"rendered":"Fall of Assad is a blow to Russia&#8217;s prestige"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">For nearly a decade it was Russian firepower that had kept Bashar al-Assad in power.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Until the extraordinary events of the last 24 hours.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Damascus has fallen, Syria&#8217;s president has been toppled and has, reportedly, flown to Moscow.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Quoting a source in the Kremlin, Russian news agencies and state TV reported that Russia has granted Assad and his family asylum &#8220;on humanitarian grounds&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">In a matter of days, the Kremlin&#8217;s Syria project has unravelled in the most dramatic circumstances, with Moscow powerless to prevent it.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">In a statement the Russian foreign ministry announced that Moscow was &#8220;following the dramatic events in Syria with extreme concern.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The fall of the Assad regime is a blow to Russia&#8217;s prestige.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">By sending thousands of troops in 2015 to shore up President Assad, one of Russia&#8217;s key objectives had been to assert itself as a global power. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">It was Vladimir Putin&#8217;s first major challenge to the power and dominance of the West, away from the former Soviet space.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">And a successful one, it had seemed. In 2017 President Putin visited Russia&#8217;s Hmeimim air base in Syria and declared that it was mission accomplished. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Despite regular reports that Russian airstrikes were causing civilian casualties, the Russian defence ministry felt confident enough to fly international media out to Syria to witness the Russian military operation.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">On one such trip I remember an officer telling me that Russia was in Syria &#8220;for the long haul&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">But this was about more than just prestige.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">In return for military assistance, the Syrian authorities awarded Russia 49-year leases on the air base in Hmeimim and naval base in Tartous. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Russia had secured an important foothold in the eastern Mediterranean. The bases became important hubs for transferring military contractors in and out of Africa.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">A key question for Moscow: what will happen to those Russian bases now?<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The statement announcing Assad&#8217;s arrival in Moscow also mentioned that Russian officials were in contact with representatives of &#8220;the Syrian armed opposition&#8221;. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The state TV anchor said opposition leaders had guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic missions on the territory of Syria.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Russia&#8217;s foreign ministry says the bases in Syria have been put &#8220;on a state of high alert&#8221;, but claims there is &#8220;no serious threat to them at the current time.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Bashar al-Assad was Russia&#8217;s staunchest ally in the Middle East. The Kremlin had invested heavily in him. The Russian authorities will struggle to present his toppling as anything but a setback for Moscow.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Still, they&#8217;re trying\u2026 and looking for scapegoats.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">On Sunday night Russian state TV&#8217;s flagship weekly news show took aim at the Syrian army, apparently blaming it for not fighting back against the rebels.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;Everyone could see that the situation was becoming more and more dramatic for the Syrian authorities,&#8221; anchor Yevgeny Kiselev said. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;But in Aleppo, for example, positions were given up virtually without a fight. Fortified areas were surrendered one after another and then blown up, despite [government troops] being better equipped and outnumbering the attacking side many times over. It&#8217;s a mystery!&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The anchor claimed that Russia &#8220;had always hoped for reconciliation [between different sides] in Syria.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Then his final point:<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;Of course we are not indifferent to what is happening in Syria. But our priority is Russia&#8217;s own security \u2013 what is happening in the zone of the Special Military Operation [Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine].&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">There&#8217;s a clear message here for the Russian public. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Despite nine years of Russia pouring resources into keeping Bashar al-Assad in power, Russians are being told they have more important things to worry about.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/clygege97qwo\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For nearly a decade it was Russian firepower that had kept Bashar al-Assad in power. Until the extraordinary events of the last 24 hours. Damascus has fallen, Syria&#8217;s president has &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=135182\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}