TARTOUS, Syria, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Russia is pulling back its military from the front lines in northern Syria and from posts in the Alawite Mountains but is not leaving its two main bases in the country after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, four Syrian officials told Reuters.

Kyiv has been sending drones and operators to Syria and offering more to give Russia ‘a bloody nose’

Three years before it intervened in Syria, Russia feared an Islamist takeover in Damascus would lead to widespread chaos in the region, like a new Afghanistan in the Levant, reported Joe Lauria in 2012.

Syria has fallen. It is now highly likely that the country will fall apart. Outside and inside actors will try to capture and/or control as many parts of the cadaver as each of them can. Years of chaos and strife will follow from that.

Events during the Obama administration probably point to the way things will work out again, if the attack on Syrian forces continues for more than a few weeks.