There was much surprise in geopolitical circles several weeks ago when, completely out of the blue, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced he would begin withdrawing military forces from Syria at once, a move hailed by some as confirmation Russia had failed to achieve its goals in the civil war-ridden nation which serves as a hotbed of ISIS terrorist attacks around the globe, and by others as victory.
Both camps may have been wrong. According to a Reuters, while the Kremlin announced one thing to the international community behind the scenes it has been doing more of the same: sending even more forces, arms and supplies to Syria.
As Reuters explains "when Vladimir Putin announced the withdrawal of most of Russia's military contingent from Syria there was an expectation that the Yauza, a Russian naval icebreaker and one of the mission's main supply vessels, would return home to its Arctic Ocean port. Instead, three days after Putin's March 14 declaration, the Yauza, part of the "Syrian Express", the nickname given to the ships that have kept Russian forces supplied, left the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk for Tartous, Russia's naval facility in Syria.Whatever it was carrying was heavy; it sat so low in the water that its load line was barely visible."
Reuters' assessment is blunt: Putin lied and has been actively sending more equipment to Syria:
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