As soon as the Russians began beefing up the military airport near Latekia and ferrying in military equipment and men it was clear they were putting down a marker
Big-power politics apart the step was entirely logical within the dynamic of the evolving and mutating conflict in Syria
The Russian intervention is a game-changer which opens a new chapter in the ever-escalating Syrian saga and lifts it to a yet higher level of crisis
Lt carried a clear message: Russia will not allow the regime of Bashar al-Assad to collapse although Moscow insists it is not wedded to him in person
Until the Russians threw him this lifeline it seemed as though the embattled Syrian leader was doomed.