Damascus received new warplanes from Moscow: army source

Independent Russian military analyst Alexander Golts said the operation – which would not jeopardise ground troops – would be “the most rational approach” if Putin was determined to use the Russian military influx in Syria to score diplomatic points.

Munks also noted a “substantial increase” in jets at Latakia airport, saying it pointed to a “rapid buildup of Russia’s expeditionary force”.

CNN has also reported Russian Federation has begun to launch surveillance drones into the area, and has deployed several helicopters, tanks and close to 500 marines.

Putin, however, complicated Israel‘s strategies vis-a-vis Hezbollah and Syria when he announced that the Russian military would be moving into the war-torn country, setting up in the port city of Latakia.

A United States of America official told Reuters that U.S.-Israeli coordination allowed the allies to share classified technologies for identifiying Russian aircraft over Syria: “We know how to spot them clearly and quickly”, the official said. Assad is now engaged in conflicts with both ISIL and USA coalition-backed rebel groups.

Netanyahu said Iran and Syria were “trying to set up a second terrorist front on the Golan Heights”, a Syrian plateau which was mostly captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

“There are 28 fighter and bomber aircraft” now located at an airfield in the western Syrian province of Latakia, a USA official speaking anonymously told news agency Agence France-Presse.

Putin also condemned all attacks on Israel but avoided making a reference to Hezbollah.

Recent Russian reinforcements for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which regional sources say include warplanes and anti-aircraft systems, worry Israel, whose jets have on occasion bombed the neighbouring Arab country to foil suspected handovers of advanced arms to Assad’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

“If Russian Federation looks to play a constructive role against [ISIS], that’s one thing, but if what they’re doing is, in fact, propping up the Assad regime, then that’s an entirely different issue altogether”, Kirby added, “because it is the Assad regime that has been a magnet for extremists inside Syria”.

Syria’s pulverizing four-year struggle has tackled another dimensions lately as Moscow has moved to support its military presence in the nation, bringing profound worries up in Washington.