RUSSIAN warplanes are in the skies over Syria. For the past several weeks, the Kremlin has been beefing up its presence, sending aircraft and sophisticated air-defence systems. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Monday, Vladimir Putin called for a "broad international coalition" against Islamic State (IS). On the morning of September 30th, the Russian parliament granted Mr Putin permission to deploy forces abroad. Russian officials say the thousands of Russian citizens (mostly from the North Caucasus) reportedly fighting for IS present them with a grave national-security threat. But with their first air strikes in Syria—their first intervention in the Middle East in decades—Russian forces bombarded rebel-held areas where IS has little to no presence. For Mr Putin clearly, an important goal is the propping up of his long-time ally, Bashar Assad, who controls some 20% of his country after four years of bloody war. Why is the Kremlin so intent on supporting Mr Assad?
