Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, and Syrian President Bashar Assad shake hands in Moscow's Kremlin, December 19, 2006.
Evidence is emerging that Russia may be ramping up its military involvement in Syria in a bid to help the ailing regime of President Bashar Assad stave off ISIS and other rebel groups.
American intelligence officials told The Telegraph that Russia is building a military base in Assad's Alawite stronghold of Latakia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is "already giving Syria quite serious help with equipment and training soldiers, with our weapons."
"We really want to create some kind of an international coalition to fight terrorism and extremism," Putin added.
Over the course of the 55-month Syrian conflict, Russia has provided the Assad regime with supplies ? including guns, grenades, tank parts, fighter jets, advanced antiship cruise missiles, long-range air-defense missiles, military officers as advisers, diplomatic cover, and lots of cash.
The fight against ISIS provides him even more pretext for further involvement.
?Russia wants Assad to stay alive, and, by putting the focus on ISIS, it gives him another lifeline,? Chris Harmer, a former US Navy officer now at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, told The Daily Beast.
Russia has reportedly set up an air-traffic-control tower and brought housing units for up to 1,000 personnel to Latakia in the country's west.
Flightradar24.com has also reportedly tracked several Russian Air Force Il-76 airlifters flying to and from Damascus, according to The Aviationist.
Unconfirmed sightings of Russian infantry vehicles and military advisers in Syria has prompted rumors that Putin has already put boots on the ground and may be preparing a large-scale counterterrorism operation alongside Iranian proxy militias.
