“Over months and years, Russia pursued a scorched earth strategy on behalf of its Syrian partners, killing and exhausting civilians who lived behind rebel lines. In contrast to U.S. practices of using precision-guided munitions after thorough intelligence assessments, Russia was content to use a larger number of more powerful bombs to ensure its goals were met. But Russia was never interested in some complex notion of victory that would leave Syria better off. Russia didn’t even seem interested in stability, and it certainly wasn’t preoccupied with reconstruction. Instead, Russia was interested in defeating its adversaries, which it largely did.”

–Jon Alterman comments on Russian war tactics and strategy.  [CSIS]