Special to WorldTribune.com

Russia is flying military assets and personnel into Syria via Iranian and Iraqi air space and ignoring warnings from the United States in the process.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen as determined to rescue the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and is openly defying American efforts to block the military shipments, increasing tensions with Washington.

“It appears now that Assad is worried enough that he’s inviting Russian advisers in and Russian equipment in,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a meeting with troops at Fort Meade, Md., last week. “And that won’t change our core strategy, which is to continue to put pressure on ISIL in Iraq and Syria, but we are going to be engaging Russia to let them know that you can’t continue to double-down on a strategy that’s doomed to failure.”

American officials confirmed on Sept. 13 that at least seven Russian Condor transport planes had taken off from a base in southern Russia during the past week to bring equipment to Syria, all passing through Iranian and Iraqi airspace. The planes landed in an airfield south of Latakia, Syria, which is seen as Russia’s top new military foothold in the Middle East.

“There were military supplies, they are ongoing, and they will continue,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. “They are inevitably accompanied by Russian specialists, who help to adjust the equipment, to train Syrian personnel how to use this weaponry.”

The Obama administration thought it seized an opportunity to block the Russian effort to move military equipment and personnel into Syria when Bulgaria, a NATO member, announced it would close its airspace to the flights. But Russia quickly shifted the flights over Iraq and Iran.

American diplomats raised the issue with the Iraqi government on Sept. 5, hoping that the Iraqis would follow Bulgaria’s example. The Iraqis responded that they would look into the matter, but more than a week later, had yet to take action.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in a phone conversation with Lavrov, warned Russia not to expand its military support for Assad’s regime, saying it would fuel the conflict and might even lead to an inadvertent confrontation with the American-led coalition that is carrying out air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).

U.S. intelligence reports about 200 Russian marines and six Russian howitzers are positioned at the air base south of Latakia. More prefabricated buildings have been delivered, increasing the housing capacity to 1,500 people. Dozens of Russian vehicles have been observed at the base, including about a dozen advanced infantry fighting vehicles.

Some American officials also believe Russian SU-25 and MiG-31 attack planes might arrive in the next phase of the buildup. They could be sent in crates and assembled in Syria or be flown to the base, officials said.

Experts say the Russian move is not only an effort to prop up Assad’s regime, but positions Moscow to have major influence in Syria’s future and draws attention away from Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.

“The Russians have done a masterful job of changing the subject on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s arrival in New York for the 70th commemoration of the U.N. General Assembly,” said Andrew S. Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

  ignores U.S. warnings, Iraq air space for military transport flights to Syria, John Kerry, Latakia, Russia use of Iran, Russia uses Iran, Sergei Lavrov, WorldTribune.com