When are people going to learn that the Kremlin has a favored side but manipulates all sides? Kremlin strategy all through history since the Empire is to control false opposition first, then allow more easy victories when you can pressure from both ends.

Russia has backed Syria since the Syrian Islamic Revolution which they help them with since the 1940s-1950s, they put in Assad and his father. They regularly mess with their leveraged assets. When any start to make any Western move, they attack them and then say, "look at what the West did".

Russia plays multiple sides against each other within countries experiencing internal conflict, using these conflicts as a wedge to deepen its regional influence. The Middle East offers Russia many such opportunities for controlled strife.

Support Opposing Sides Simultaneously: Russia’s Approach to the Gulf and the Middle East