Russian planners and leadership did not see eye to eye with the Iranian forces on the direction that the conflict was proceeding on the ground in Syria

According to a newly released report on Monday by a prominent Saudi news outlet, The Elaph, Russian government decided to withdrawal some its forces from Syria after Moscow’s disappointment over failures by Iranian and Hezbollah forces to achieve victories against opposition forces fighting to topple the Assad government.
The report says that while Russian air force was concentrating from air to pave the way for Iranian and Hezbollah troops to advance against Syrian opposition forces by bombing those targets, it did not receive same coverage from the ground and thus the failure by pro-Assad forces exhausted Russia’s patience.
The report also added there were disagreements between Moscow and its allies embattled in Syria ran so deep that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced, without warning, his plans to pull his troops out of Syria.
“The division of opinions between Russia and Iran and Hezbollah were stronger than (the Russian’s) pact with the Syrian regime, which led to the Russian pullout,” according to the report. “In addition, the coordination between Russia and the West in arranging a ceasefire and negotiations in Syria contributed to the downsizing of forces. Iran and Hezbollah got an unhappy surprise from this coordination.”
The report also includes that Russians rejected Iranian regime position that Bashar Assad is the sole savior of the minority Shiite in Syria since the Russians were aware of the mullahs’ regime in the region, especially its animosity against Persian Gulf countries.