Analysts are accusing the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin of adopting a short-sighted approach in Syria, AFP reported.
Alexander Konovalov, head of the Strategic Analysis Institute, said Russia was guided by a desire to end its diplomatic isolation and may not fully realize long-term consequences of a military involvement in Syria.
“We were coming to Afghanistan for six months and stayed there for 10 years,” he told AFP, referring to a conflict that killed over 14,000 Soviet troops between 1979 and 1989.
According to a recent poll by the respected Levada Centre, 69 percent of Russians are against Moscow’s deployment of troops in Syria, with just 14 percent in favour.
Wednesday’s news set social networks alight, with many commentators predicting dire consequences for Russians.
“Hide your sons,” one Russian, Zaira Abdullaeva, wrote on Facebook.
The Pentagon says Russia has in recent weeks sent warplanes and other military hardware to northwestern Syria — along with at least 500 troops — in what many fear is an attempt to keep the war-torn country’s president in power.
Russia’s military involvement in Syria will be Moscow’s first engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.
In other news, France has launched a probe into Assad’s regime for alleged crimes against humanity, a judicial source said.
The French investigation is largely based on evidence from a former Syrian army photographer known by the codename “Caesar,” who defected and fled the country in 2013, bringing with him some 55,000 graphic photographs.
France, which is part of the US-led coalition against IS, carried out its first air strikes against the extremists’ positions in Syria on Sunday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the bombs killed at least 30 jihadists, including 12 child soldiers.