John Lechner

They will frame whatever they're doing as furthering America's national defense and security, but they're also profit-driven. And so what Prigozhin was very good at was selling back to the Kremlin this dream of kind of Russia's expansion abroad. And he could sell it back to Putin, these different initiatives that were also just happened to be, you know, potentially profitable to him.

And so, as Murat is saying, when Russia first intervenes in Syria, One of the reasons that they're doing it, actually, it's after the annexation of Crimea, and they recognize the importance of Syria at that time for the U.S. and for the West, because this is, if you remember 2015, this is when ISIS is really at its height with the territorial caliphate, and the U.S.

And so, as Murat is saying, when Russia first intervenes in Syria, One of the reasons that they're doing it, actually, it's after the annexation of Crimea, and they recognize the importance of Syria at that time for the U.S. and for the West, because this is, if you remember 2015, this is when ISIS is really at its height with the territorial caliphate, and the U.S.

And so, as Murat is saying, when Russia first intervenes in Syria, One of the reasons that they're doing it, actually, it's after the annexation of Crimea, and they recognize the importance of Syria at that time for the U.S. and for the West, because this is, if you remember 2015, this is when ISIS is really at its height with the territorial caliphate, and the U.S.

has already intervened, gone back in to fight ISIS. And so the Russians think that If we go in backing Assad, we can kind of force the U.S. into a joint counterterrorism operation against ISIS that will force them to kind of basically start talking to us again. And so they come in and they're backing Assad.

has already intervened, gone back in to fight ISIS. And so the Russians think that If we go in backing Assad, we can kind of force the U.S. into a joint counterterrorism operation against ISIS that will force them to kind of basically start talking to us again. And so they come in and they're backing Assad.

has already intervened, gone back in to fight ISIS. And so the Russians think that If we go in backing Assad, we can kind of force the U.S. into a joint counterterrorism operation against ISIS that will force them to kind of basically start talking to us again. And so they come in and they're backing Assad.

But as Murad's saying, Assad's government, I mean, the forces that he has are incredibly powerful. unmotivated, I mean, for obvious reasons, given his rule and the rebels, not just ISIS, but all the other rebels fighting against them are a lot more motivated. And the Russians initially wanted it to just be an air campaign. But I mean, as you find out pretty quick, like air campaigns alone rarely

But as Murad's saying, Assad's government, I mean, the forces that he has are incredibly powerful. unmotivated, I mean, for obvious reasons, given his rule and the rebels, not just ISIS, but all the other rebels fighting against them are a lot more motivated. And the Russians initially wanted it to just be an air campaign. But I mean, as you find out pretty quick, like air campaigns alone rarely

But as Murad's saying, Assad's government, I mean, the forces that he has are incredibly powerful. unmotivated, I mean, for obvious reasons, given his rule and the rebels, not just ISIS, but all the other rebels fighting against them are a lot more motivated. And the Russians initially wanted it to just be an air campaign. But I mean, as you find out pretty quick, like air campaigns alone rarely

work for anybody. And it was clear that Russian air power with Assad's forces on the ground was not going to work. They were not going to take the territory back from rebels. But they face an issue at the time, which I think you speak to as well, where this is kind of a faraway intervention for Russia.

work for anybody. And it was clear that Russian air power with Assad's forces on the ground was not going to work. They were not going to take the territory back from rebels. But they face an issue at the time, which I think you speak to as well, where this is kind of a faraway intervention for Russia.

work for anybody. And it was clear that Russian air power with Assad's forces on the ground was not going to work. They were not going to take the territory back from rebels. But they face an issue at the time, which I think you speak to as well, where this is kind of a faraway intervention for Russia.

And they haven't figured out yet if they want to have actual Russian troops on the ground and what Russians will think, the Russian public will think, if Russian soldiers are going home in caskets. And there's a sense that they're going to be against this and say, why are we here in Syria? And so one of the reasons that Murat and Wagner were able to get back in

And they haven't figured out yet if they want to have actual Russian troops on the ground and what Russians will think, the Russian public will think, if Russian soldiers are going home in caskets. And there's a sense that they're going to be against this and say, why are we here in Syria? And so one of the reasons that Murat and Wagner were able to get back in

And they haven't figured out yet if they want to have actual Russian troops on the ground and what Russians will think, the Russian public will think, if Russian soldiers are going home in caskets. And there's a sense that they're going to be against this and say, why are we here in Syria? And so one of the reasons that Murat and Wagner were able to get back in

is that the Russian military didn't have to report casualties for Wagner.

is that the Russian military didn't have to report casualties for Wagner.

is that the Russian military didn't have to report casualties for Wagner.

Yeah, it was an effort.