Russia won't deploy regular troops to Syria - international expert

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"There is indeed a change in the balance of power in Syria. Events are taking place, including the capture of the city of Aleppo and dozens of settlements by the rebels. However, it is not yet known to what extent this has changed the situation in Syria," Sushko explained.

The expert explained that in order to strengthen support for the Assad regime, the Russians have additional resources that are not involved in the war with Ukraine.

"One of the pillars of Bashar al-Assad's power regime in Syria is the Russian Federation and its military support. Bashar al-Assad has already asked the Kremlin to increase military support in order to change the situation in Syria. Obviously, this will involve a certain part of Russian military resources. However, I would not exaggerate the impact of the events in Syria on the Russian-Ukrainian war. We will definitely not see any Russian units moving from the front to Syria to support the Assad regime. This will not happen. Russia has additional resources that it can use in the war in Syria. I think that the Russian presence in Syria will be deployed by the forces they have in the region," he added.

What is known

A large-scale military operation of opposition forces against government forces continues in Syria. The Syrian opposition launched an active offensive on the morning of November 27 and after two days of clashes took control of 56 settlements in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib and approached the outskirts of Aleppo.

On November 30, Russian aviation for the first time since 2016 carried out airstrikes on the city of Aleppo, the center of which has been overrun by Syrian rebels. At the same time, Russia promised Syria additional military assistance.

On November 30, Reuters, citing military sources, reported that Syrian rebels captured the city of Maraat al-Numan in Idlib province, thus taking control of the entire province.