In 2017, as Russia’s intervention in the Syrian Civil War was at its height, Moscow’s Defense Ministry mistakenly reported that Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani had “lost” an arm in a Russian airstrike. By October 2025, that same rebel leader — now ascended to the Syrian presidency and using his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa — was shaking President Vladimir Putin’s hand in the Kremlin with both arms intact. Al-Sharaa came to power on Dec. 8, 2024, after his Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew longtime Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad and ended more than 60 years of Assad family rule. In the year since, Moscow has been forced to re-evaluate its approach to its erstwhile ally that had long provided it with a strategic foothold in the Middle East.
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