(CNN) Two weeks after they started, Russian airstrikes in Syria are ratcheting up — and are being closely coordinated with regime ground forces as they try to seize rebel-held territory. According to many observers of the Syrian conflict, the next month will be critical, politically and militarily.
Among the things to watch for:
• How are Russian combat aircraft performing and how accurate are their strikes?
• Will Russia expand the operation, using more cruise missiles fired from way beyond Syrian borders, for example?
• Will Syrian ground forces, backed by Iranian and Hezbollah militia, take advantage of the strikes to regain territory?
• How will Saudi Arabia and Turkey respond to […]
But "more astonishing turns are almost certain to come," says Pavel Baev at the Brookings Institution.
Baev says Russia's options for beefing up the Syria campaign include firing air-launched cruise missiles from bombers a long way from Syria, and cruise missile salvoes from submarines in the Mediterranean. There is also speculation that Russia may send its only aircraft carrier, the refitted Admiral Kuznetsov, into the Mediterranean.
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