Wednesday morning marked the first Russian airstrike on ISIS in Syria. The attacks, according to the New York Times, came mere hours after Russian president, Vladimir Putin pushed the issue through the upper house of the Russian Parliament early that morning. The airstrikes, however, have caused concerns within the United States regarding Russia’s motives due to the location of their target.
According to CNN, earlier that morning a Russian official in Baghdad went to the U.S. Embassy and informed personnel Russia would be having their airstrike that morning and the U.S. should avoid Syrian skies. Russia did not, however, give the U.S. any information regarding the geographic location of where they were planning airstrikes.
Despite the U.S. denying their leave, Russia’s airstrikes bombed several cities within Syria located in the provinces of Homs and Hama. The cities affected were Zafaraneh, Rastan, Talbiseh. None of these cities, according to BBC news, have been or are currently under ISIS control or home to any ISIS operations. These cities are instead said to have been home to anti-Assad movements.
Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, has faced criticism and many demands to leave office from the U.S. and its allies. Russia, however, has continually backed Assad remaining in power. Assad has held the position of Syrian president over the four-year-long war that, according to the New York Times, has cost over 200,000 Syrians their lives. According to the Washington Post, Assad, along with his security forces, is being blamed for the attacks and crackdowns that have displaced around 4 million people. The U.S., along with several of their allies, remain adamant peace cannot be achieved until Assad resigns from office. Putin, however, defended Assad today by saying he hoped Assad would make “compromises in the name of his country and his people.”
A New York Times article attempted to justify the attacks by stating, “Russian officials and analysts portrayed the move as an attempt both to fight Islamic State militants and to try to ensure the survival of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Russia’s main ally in the Middle East.” The airstrikes caused the deaths of 36 people, and according to BBC, a number of the deceased were children.
BBC also stated the U.S. was welcome to Russian military action within Syria, but if it was directed towards ISIS and groups linked to al-Qaeda. Putin, however, defended the attacks in a televised address by saying “The attacks were targeting Islamic militants, including Russian citizens, who have taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria.” Putin also confirmed that Russia will not be sending troops into Syria and stated Russia’s role in Syria would be limited.
However, it is said that Putin has both international and domestic reasons for involving the country in the Syrian conflict. The New York Times said, Putin not only wants Russia to be seen as a global power and maintain control of Russia’s naval station at Tartus in Syria, but also wants to draw attention away from the conflict with Ukraine and the country’s current troubled economy.
Secretary of State, John Kerry, said the U.S. would increase efforts in the coalition to stop ISIS and the U.S. was prepared to hold talks with Russia about avoiding future accidental conflicts between the two air raid campaigns “as soon as possible.”