Russian President Vladimir Putin launches air strikes in Syria, but what’s he really up to?

HIS name’s Vladimir and he’s here to help. Or is he? Russia has started air strikes in Syria, and Putin’s motives aren’t all pure.

What Vladimir Putin is really up to

IT’S on. Russia has officially entered the conflict in Syria, but its renegade bombings have the rest of the world questioning what the military superpower is really up to.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army is not the only outside force taking action in Syria, but it does appear to be on a vastly different mission to the US and its allies.

American officials have slammed Russia’s air strikes, rubbishing Putin’s claims they are targeting Islamic State fighters, instead suggesting the Russians are helping Syrian dictator President Bashar al-Assad fight off rebel forces and accusing Putin of “pouring gasoline on the fire” in Syria.

The Russians gave the US just an hour’s notice of their intention to launch air raids, a move US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter called “unprofessional”. He has warned Russia’s intervention will only end badly. So if they’re not there to fight off IS, what is it they are actually trying to achieve?

HUMILIATING AMERICA

Middle-East based journalist Martin Chulov said Russia sees itself as a counter to US influence in the region, had “outfoxed” the US by announcing it would go it alone against Islamic State.

“Now the intensive efforts that (Putin is) making seem to be about saying to the US that, ‘In the global sphere of influence, we have now taken a significant stake. The Middle East is always going to be a part of the world where some of the most protracted issues of our time are being fought out. We are now taking a lead in it, as you, the United States, start to disengage’,” Chulov told Lateline.

“They have outfoxed the US, which has been quite passive in its projection ... Iran has taken the eastern flank when it comes to this existential fight against ISIS. Russia has taken the western flank. The Americans are still dithering about what should their policy be. So Putin can conceivably say to the Americans that, ‘I’ve got your measure on this one,’ and he can also say to the US allies, which have been upset at Washington for the last couple of years, especially Saudi Arabia, that, ‘I’ve got your back when your allies didn’t’.”

Middle East commentator and award-winning correspondent Robert Fisk believes Putin isn’t interested in keeping Bashar al-Assad in power, but rather has his eye on a larger, strategic prize.

“He wants a victory,” Fisk writes in The Independent. “Syria’s army, the only institution upon which the regime — indeed, the entire state apparatus — depends is being re-armed and trained for a serious military offensive against ISIS, one which is meant to have enormous symbolic value both in the Middle East and in the world.

“I’ll wager a well-informed guess right now — and we’ll keep calling this a guess, if only for form’s sake — that the Syrian army is being primed to recapture the ancient Roman city of Palmyra from the Islamists.”

Describing 2000-year-old Palmyra, considered a “cradle of civilisation” which fell to IS in May, as a “pearl” significant to both the West and the Middle East, Fisk says a Russian-backed victory there would be “an epic symbol of Russia’s new projection into the Middle East.”

“For Obama and Cameron and the rest of our Western leaders, who have fumbled around Syria for four years, neither dethroning Assad nor defeating Isis, a Russian-assisted recapture of Palmyra would be a humiliating lesson.”

‘DOOMED TO FAIL’

Although it’s only officially day one for Russia in the conflict, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said the signs were bad.

“It does appear they were in areas where there probably were not ISIL forces,” Mr Carter said of the Russian air strikes, using an alternative acronym for Islamic State.

“I hope that they come over to a point of view where they try to pursue their objectives in a different way that makes more sense.

Mr Carter said the strikes highlight a contradiction in Russia’s approach. He said the Russians should not be supporting the Assad government, and their military moves.

Mr Carter also expressed disappointment that the Russians did not use formal channels to provide the US with advance notice of its air strikes, but instead sent an official to the US Embassy in Baghdad.

“By supporting Assad and seemingly taking on everyone who is fighting Assad, you’re taking on the whole rest of the country of Syria,” Mr Carter said. “That is not our position. At least some parts of the anti-Assad opposition belong in the political transition going forward. That’s why the Russian approach is doomed to fail.”

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter speaks about Russian air strikes in Syria. Picture: SAUL LOEB/AFP

Russia’s dramatic entry into the Syrian war has put the US on the back foot once again, potentially altering the balance of power in Syria back in favour of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Russia has laughed off suggestions its involvement in Syria may be counter-productive, and while its apparent support of the Assad regime and bombing non-IS held areas is of major concern to the US, there are also concerns around areas it appears to be cooperating.

Russia now appears to be dropping bombs in regions where the US military as well, but with no communication or coordination between the countries, the White House warns the disruption could be disastrous.

A picture taken on September 30, 2015 shows damaged buildings and a minaret in the central Syrian town of Talbisseh in the Homs province. Picture: Mahmous Tara/AFP

HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?

The strikes follow high level talks at the UN General Assembly in New York this week where clear divisions emerged among leaders, particularly Mr Obama and Mr Putin, over how to deal with the Syrian Civil war.

While President Obama said he favoured “transitioning” Bashar al-Assad from power, Mr Putin was keen to prop up the Syrian president’s regime.

United States President Barack Obama, right, and Russia's President President Vladimir Putin pose before their bilateral meeting. Picture: Andrew Harnik/AP

On Monday, Mr Putin called for a broad UN-backed coalition to fight IS jihadists as he addressed the UN General Assembly for the first time in a decade.

The Russian president also said he had not ruled out air strikes on IS. The Pentagon says Russia has in recent weeks sent bombers, fighter jets, at least 500 troops and a slew of other military hardware to north-western Syria in what many fear is an attempt to keep the war-torn country’s president in power.

The overnight strikes came with only an hour’s notice to the Pentagon and followed unanimous show to support from parliament to carry out strikes in Syria.

Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said in televised remarks: “The Federation Council unanimously supported the president’s request. We are talking about Syria.”

He sought to play down the decision, saying it will only use its air force, not ground troops, “in order to support the government Syrian forces in their fight against the Islamic State” group.

Pentagon officials have described Russia’s build-up of military hardware in the Latakia region in north-western Syria and said Russia is making a forward operating base there.

So far, at least 500 troops as well as 28 fighter jets and several bombers and artillery units have been deployed to the base, US officials say.

The Pentagon is now investigating where the bombs hit and what was destroyed.