Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War  The Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War began in September 2015, after an official request by the Syrian government for military aid against rebel groups. The intervention initially involved air strikes by Russian aircraft deployed to the Khmeimim base against targets primarily in north-western Syria, and against Syrian opposition militant groups opposed to the Syrian government, including the Syrian National Coalition, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda in Syria) and the Army of Conquest. In addition, Russian special operations forces and military advisors are deployed to Syria. Prior to the intervention, Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War had mainly consisted of supplying the Syrian Army with arms and equipment. At the end of December 2017, the Russian government said its troops would be deployed to Syria permanently. Shortly after the operation began, Russian officials were cited as saying that, apart from fighting terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State, Russia′s goals included helping the Syrian government retake territory from various anti-government groups that are labelled by the United States and the American-led intervention in Syria as ″moderate opposition″, a broader geopolitical objective being to roll back U.S. influence. In a televised interview in October 2015, Russian president Vladimir Putin said the military operation had been thoroughly prepared in advance; he defined Russia′s goal in Syria as "stabilising the legitimate power in Syria and creating the conditions for political compromise". In an October 2016 TV interview, General Leonid Ivashov said that Russia's engagement in the conflict was critical to prevent construction of hydrocarbon pipelines from Middle East, which would be catastrophic for Gazprom and, in turn, for the budget of Russian Federation. By the end of 2017, the intervention produced significant gains for the Syrian government, including the recapture of Palmyra from the Islamic State in March 2016, retaking the major city of Aleppo in December 2016, breaking the three-year-long siege of Deir ez-Zor and securing control over that city in November 2017. In early January 2017, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said that, overall, the Russian Air Force had carried out 19,160 combat missions and delivered 71,000 strikes on "the infrastructure of terrorists". At the end of December 2017, the Russian defence minister said that the Russian military had eliminated several thousand terrorists while 48,000 Russian service-members had ″gained combat experience″ during the Russian operation in Syria.