Putin pays surprise visit to Syria, where Assad tells him: 'Thanks a million'
by Sabra Ayres and Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times
Dec 11, 2017
3 minutes
BEIRUT - In July 2015, the defeat of Syrian President Bashar Assad appeared imminent.
His troops, overstretched and exhausted, had lost too many men, and a string of humiliating losses meant the government controlled only a quarter of the country.
Two months later, Russian warplanes streaked through Syria's skies, hurling bombs at Assad's adversaries and starting a reversal of fortune that, more than two years later, has forced most of those enemies to accede that he will remain.
That was
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