Russia’s military gamble in Syria is paying off handsomely

THE GREAT victory train clattered across eight time zones and back before groaning into a military-exhibition ground outside Moscow last month. It pulled car after car of trophies from Syria, as well as wagonloads of patriotism and conspiracy theories. Here was a pockmarked American-made Humvee; there pickup trucks turned into battering-rams for suicide car-bombers. Various home-made bombs included one hidden in a can of Russian beer.

Amid the fanfare of military bands, veterans on the platform recounted how Russia had intervened in 2015 to stop Syria falling into the hands of jihadists, notably Islamic State (IS), who had been secretly armed by NATO. “A lot of what you’re seeing here could have been delivered directly by the Americans,” explains one guide. “It’s not just my opinion. Many think so.” Never mind that Russia fought mostly against non-IS groups, or that America did much to crush the IS “caliphate”.

Another display purported to show a chemical-weapons lab with barrels of precursors labelled in English—an apparent attempt to accuse rebels of using chlorine gas in Douma in 2018. Western powers blamed the regime of Bashar al-Assad and bombed Syrian air bases in retaliation.

Propaganda aside, Russia is elated by the outcome of its intervention. It saved Mr Assad at relatively...