NEWSLINK: “Russia touts essential role in Syria’s advance against IS” – AFP

“… In addition to air strikes and reconnaissance, Russia has also dispatched special forces, de-mining experts, and military police officers across Syria. Pavel Felgenhauer, military observer for Novaya Gazeta newspaper, says more than 2,000 military advisers are also on the ground. ‘Some two million tonnes of military supplies have been shipped to Syria,’ he says, including Russian weapons systems like the TOS-1 flamethrower rocket launcher and Msta artillery units. …”