The Kremlin’s chief of staff Serge Ivanov confirmed that President Assad of Syria had ‘appealed to the leadership of Russia with a request for military aid.’ Russia claimed that the airstrikes which followed, on Wednesday, were against IS positions, but local Syrian sources reported that they were exclusively against anti-government rebels. Syrian Civil Defence Forces, a volunteer emergency responder organisation, reported 36 civilian casualties from the Russian airstrike in northern Homs, in addition to several civilian casualties in Hama. Although there are small IS “sympathetic” cells in the rebel-held pockets of northern Homs, this decision signals Russia’s intent to assist the Assad regime’s war effort at large, beyond anti-IS operations. See also the Europe article about Russia and military talks.