The operation in Syria is Russia’s first experience of expeditionary warfare—beyond what Moscow calls its “near abroad”—since Soviet forces left Afghanistan in 1989. The ongoing campaign in Syria, along with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, have highlighted Russian military capabilities that were absent during the war with Georgia in 2008. These newly developed capabilities are the result of military reforms initiated immediately after the Russian-Georgian war. According to Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Armed Forces were able to carry out the operation in Syria due to “the efforts of the country’s leadership” to modernize “the army and fleet” …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation
