If anyone needed more signs of Moscow in Syria, a new video appearing in the country this week should do the job.
Syrian state TV on Sunday broadcast WWII-era Russian war song "Katusha", complete with a video featuring Arabic subtitles. The song features a young Russian woman singing to her lover amid armored vehicles and describes a Russian Red Army soldier "guarding his proud nation." This week it showed up on two state-run channels in Syria.
By now, the fact that Russia is increasingly more present in the the Syrian conflict has been lost on no one, but propoganda war tactics like this video have been going on long before the rest of the world started paying attention.
State-owned channel Syrian Drama has broadcast Russian war drama series The Front in the Heart of the Enemy since May, while other state channels often produce domestic reports from Russia, the Middle East Eye reports.
Meanwhile, things are ramping up on the ground, too. According to a report by Russia Today Wedesday, a Russian parliamentary vote swung unanimously in favor of allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin the use of Russian troops in Syria. The move reportedly follows a request for the foreign manpower from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
See the "Katyusha" video below. Via YouTube.
