The 500th new Russian commander in the Ukraine issued orders for troops to give up their phones and tablets. I guess they're finally catching on?
He wants them to clean shaven, too, which could be ominous. You have to be clean shaven for gas masks to fit properly. The Russians had no problem helping their Syrian allies drop makeshift poison gas bombs from helicopters during the siege of Aleppo during that country's Civil War.
Bashar Assad would be content to rule over a pile of rocks and corpses. He was the Moscow Midget's protege when the former was assigned to Soviet Embassies in Beirut and Damascus. Putin bailed his boy out when things got bad early in the 2010's. Bird's of a feather.