Russia Redeploys Military Hardware from Syria as Moscow’s Leverage in Middle East Declines
Edited by: Fern Sidman
As the Russian war on Ukraine continues unabated, it appears that Moscow’s military prowess and sphere of influence elsewhere in the world is rapidly declining.
According to three senior officials based in the Middle East who spoke with New York Times reporters Ronen Bergman and Patrick Kingsley, Russia recently redeployed critical military hardware and troops from Syria. This move highlighted the fact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is faltering as Moscow has not achieved their objectives in the neighboring country but it also shows that their military might and authority in such a crucial region as the Middle East is getting weaker. The Times reporters also indicated that in the case of Syria, Russia has now made it politically easier for Israel to show its support for Ukraine, other than providing humanitarian assistance.
Since 2015, Russia has posited themselves as a dominant military force in Syria and helps maintain the Syrian regime’s grip on power, according to Bergman and Kingsley’s report in the Times. While Russia has not completely left Syria and still maintains a significant presence there, the redeployment of their military hardware could bring with it a sizable shift in the balance of power in one of the world’s most complicated conflict zones, the Times reported. Such a move would allow Israel, which is Syria’s neighbor to the south and its arch foe to reassess its strategy concerning its northern neighbor and to Ukraine as well.
Thus far, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, Israel has been roundly condemned by both Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and others for not stepping up to the plate in terms of offering Ukraine their own military equipment and hardware in which to defend themselves from the Russian army. Early in the conflict former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has traveled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in what was termed as an effort to convince the Russian leader to end the conflict. Bennett’s efforts met with no tangible results and Russia critiqued Israel for intervening and for not throwing their public support behind them.
Both Bergman and Kingsley reported that according to two senior Western diplomats and a senior Israeli defense official, who spoke with them on the condition of anonymity in order to provide more information, Moscow recently transferred some troops and a Russian air-defense system out of Syria, removing one of the main restrictions on Israeli military actions in Syria.
While the officials told Bergman and Kingsley that there had been a reduction in the number of Russian combat troops in Syria, they differed in their estimates in precisely how many troops had been withdrawn from the region. The Times article indicated that two of the officials said two battalions, or between 1,200 and 1,600 soldiers had been withdrawn and the other said that the number was far greater.
During Russia’s presence in Syria, Moscow has made it is business to establish military coordination with Israel, the NYT report indicated but now such coordination has been diminished due to Russia’s focus on Ukraine. The Israeli official told Bergman and Kingsley that several Russian commanders had been redeployed from Syria to Ukraine and that the military brass in Moscow has become less involved in day-to-day management of operations in Syria.
The redeployment move is Syria is not the only steps that Moscow has taken to focus its attention on the invasion of Ukraine. Prior to moving troops, weaponry and leadership out of Syria, the Times report indicated that Russia has reduced its leverage in Soviet ruled countries in Central Asia as leaders say that the invasion of Ukraine has jolted Russia from its traditional leadership role which has undermined Moscow’s sphere of power in those countries.
Bergman and Kingsley of the Times reported that since the advent of a bloody civil war in Syria in 2011 which caused a major emigration crisis, the country’s president Bashar al-Assad of Syria has relied on military support from Iran and its proxies to keep rebels at bay, as well as from Russia’s Putin.
The report also indicated that prior to 2011, Russia was no stranger to their involvement in Syria as they had kept a military presence there since the 1970s. In 2015, Putin decided it was the right time to increase its military presence with several thousand Russian troops and aircraft, the Times reported. Russia’s increased presence in Syria was a pivotal component in turning the conflict in Assad’s favor.
Israel has been on the receiving end of hostilities from Syria and Iran for decades and as such seeks to strengthen its security by conducting air strikes targeting Syria which is a haven for Iranian operatives and terrorists who seek to destroy Israel such as the notorious terrorist group Hezbollah. The Times report indicated that the Israeli strikes in Syria are also conducted to send a strong message to Tehran that they cannot camp out at their doorstep without facing retaliation. In 2018, the risk to Israeli pilots during those raids increased after Russia moved a sophisticated air-defense system, known as the S-300, to Syria, the Times report indicated.
Times reporters Bergman and Kingsley revealed that although control of the S-300 was never transferred to the Syrian government, the risk that it might be used against Israeli planes was a major reason Israel has rebuffed Ukrainian requests for military hardware since the Russian invasion began in February.
According to the three officials, Russia has now removed the S-300 system from Syria to bolster its flagging invasion of Ukraine — reducing Russian leverage over Israel in Syria, and altering Israeli considerations with regards to Ukraine, the Times report said.
