Russia’s abandonment of the Assad regime to marshal more resources for the fight against Ukraine vividly illustrates that Putin is ready to sacrifice everything for total victory in the war. Although Putin tries to portray himself as a realist, he has become consumed with Ukraine, to the exclusion of almost all other foreign policy imperatives.

Russia sent a ship to evacuate soldiers and equipment from its bases in Syria, but it broke down en route, Ukrainian intelligence says.

Concurrently, marine traffic monitors show a Vladivostok-bound cargo ship, Ursa Major, previously registered as Sparta III and visually matching the picture published by HUR, moving at a very low speed of little over 1 knot in the open sea between Spain and Algeria.

The Ursa Major ship went down after an explosion in the engine room, Russia's foreign ministry said.

Former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty says that Vladimir Putin spinning Russia’s withdrawal from Syria as a victory could be a preview of how he will frame any possible ceasefire with Ukraine.

The transfer marks the end of an era when Russia played an arguably oversized role in determining which countries could operate in Syria’s contested airspace.

With Russia’s diminished influence in Syria, Ukraine calls on Israel to reconsider its stance and provide essential defensive weapons and technology.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish militants in Syria will either lay down their weapons or "be buried", amid hostilities between Turkey-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.

In abandoning Syria’s Bashar-al Assad, Vladimir Putin showed where his interests really lie, Alexandra Vacroux writes in a guest commentary.

Syria was thus a status symbol for the Kremlin. Putin, who sees Russia as a "great power" on par with the United States and China, attaches much importance to projecting that image in the former Soviet bloc and,

In a swift response, the Katy Police Department arrested 18-year-old Aaron Noe Chavez and a juvenile following a shooting at Katy Mills Mall on December 23, 2024. No injuries were reported, and the suspects, linked to an ongoing feud, were charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.