Moscow is Syria's largest arms supplier and maintains a naval base in Tartus.
About three weeks ago the Russians were accused of dispatching two large landing ships full of marines to Tartus.
Petersburg-based ship, the Chariot, that was moving four containers of munitions bound for the Syrian port of Tartus, according to Cypriot officials.
Meanwhile, Russia has sent a naval flotilla of seven warships led by an anti-submarine destroyer to its Syrian base at Tartus, according to Interfax news agency.
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Today Mr Putin sees a much more expansive role for Russia and he sees his toehold in Syria on the coast at Tartus as providing the basis for a more significant foothold in the region.
The region is of strategic value to Assad's regime because it links Damascus with the coastal enclave that is the heartland of Syria's Alawites and also home to the country's two main seaports, Latakia and Tartus.
Mahmoud said there were casualties on both sides, adding that the hilltop village overlooks several towns and villages as well as a strategically important road that links Tartus to Homs and the capital of Damascus beyond.
Syria is one of the largest recipients of Russian military equipment, Jouejati said, and Russia leases a naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartus, giving the Russian navy its only direct access to the Mediterranean.
It has energy projects to protect in Syria and naval interests too: it would like to see the Syrian port of Tartus once again serve as a base for Russian ships as it did in Soviet times.
The border region near Homs on the Syria side is strategic because it links Damascus with the coastal enclave that is the heartland of Syria's Alawites and is also home to the country's two main seaports, Latakia and Tartus.
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