To the victors, the ruins: the challenges of Russia´s reconstruction in Syria
(World News Russia)

From rebuilt mosques to new oil contracts, Russian firms are cashing in as the Assad regime gains the upper hand in Syria. Waer district, Homs, after rebel fighters evacuate in May 2017. (c) Omar Sanadiki/Reuters/PA Images. All rights reserved. Over the past eight months, Russia has increasingly seized the initiative in charting the political and military course of events in Syria. With the United States focused on the fight against Islamic State in Raqqa, Moscow has engineered, with Ankara´s cooperation, a number of `de-escalation zones` in the country, covering the four primary areas of regime-rebel contact. At the same time, Russia has loudly trumpeted the rebuilding of several prominent...