BEIRUT — Russia's military deployment in Syria and ensuing strikes against rebel positions have made large swaths of territory off-limits to rebels. These areas include not only the Latakia region — known as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite bastion — but southern Syria as well, where experts and fighters told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the rebels’ advance toward Damascus has been purposely stalled by external players.

Russia has been building up its forces since July in the coastal region of Latakia. As 2,000 men were deployed starting in late September to a new air base near Latakia, the Russian air force took over Syrian skies, bombing Idlib, Homs and Hama — areas essentially under rebel control — as well as the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa.

Russian intervention has stepped up as the Assad regime's hold, particularly around Latakia, has slowly weakened, with rebels gaining territory in recent months. The opposition, led by Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest), which is made up of Salafist and jihadi groups such as Ahrar al-Sham and al-Qaeda-affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, held their ground in nearby Idlib and surrounding rural areas. They expanded their reach in northern Syria toward the Latakia mountain range, firing rockets at the populous coastal city. August also witnessed clashes between rebels and troops loyal to Assad in Sahl al-Ghab, an area considered a strategic entry point to Assad's Alawite stronghold and a supply line in the region for forces loyal to the regime.

The recent positioning of Russia, thus, comes in response to increasing rebel attacks on the coastal region. “The Russian intervention carries a psychological importance; it aims at showing that the Assad regime survival is a [must] for Moscow,” Middle East expert Karim Emile Bitar, senior fellow at the French Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris, told Al-Monitor.