Not entirely.

They’re not allies. It’s an “enemy of my enemy” situation. Ukraine isn’t a huge fan of jihadists, but they like people who kill Russians. They’ve got some contact with HTS I am sure. But nothing dramatic.

This is Mosul-tier.

Depends on what resources the Russians dispatch. There’s a lot of assets that the Russians have that are of dubious use in Ukraine that can have an outsized impact in Syria. Stuff like Su-25s and helicopters.

It wouldn’t be the first time. They’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for years now. It should be expected.

Jolani is also a salafist jihadist lol. He was in AQ after all.

Yes. Jolani is making efforts to moderate HTS, but the rank and file are still salafist jihadists. More moderate than the Taliban I would say, but still holding a lot of worrisome beliefs.

The regime is consolidating in parts of the eastern neighborhoods and at Nayrab. There is still some fighting to be done.

They’re right though. This is the worst performance that the SAA has put on in a decade. It’s a complete catastrophe.

The Chechens in this group also have guys fighting in Ukraine under their leader.

The Syrian Air Force’s primary CAS aircraft is the L-39. Which has no countermeasures. At least the ones in their inventory.

They’re possibly talking about the established foreign fighter populations in Idlib. In particular there are hundreds of fighters from Central Asia who have lived there for a decade now. But I’ve also seen the Ukrainian claims hahaha

The failure of reconstruction and its consequences have been a disaster for the United States of America. One of the most depressing “what ifs”.

They tried a decade ago. A major part of the Russian intervention was forcing the rebel factions away from the coast. It’s a slog.

No thanks! Ukraine, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Syria is where I’ll stay. Though I doubt I’d garner much of an audience, so I’m not going to live post about developments really. There’s just no one to tell.