Amid Russia Airstrikes In Syria, Russian Embassies Use Twitter To Criticize US

Russian media have turned their full attention to Syria as Russia continued its airstrikes there Monday. Russian embassies all over the world have joined in posting tweets both poking fun at the U.S.’ role in Syria and showcasing Russia’s military might.

With Ukraine falling from the headlines in Russia, the media have shifted their focus to playing up Russia’s role in Syria. A tweet sent Sunday from Russia’s embassy in the United Arab Emirates showed a cutout of a gun asking for readers to “arm the right Syrian rebel group,” with options including the Free Syrian Army and the Al-Nusra Front.

The Syrian groups trained and armed by the U.S. are opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad. However, only a handful of those rebels were still fighting, according to the BBC. U.S. Republican leaders labeled the program a failure.

Russia has long been an ally of Assad, with Russia admitting in September that it had been supplying the Syrian government with weapons. Russian media and embassy Twitter accounts have featured photos and descriptions of the equipment being used in Syria by Russian forces.

The tweets featuring Russian military aircraft and supplies come after Turkey said Russian airplanes entered its sovereign airspace over the weekend. Russia claimed Monday that the aircraft had experienced a “navigational error.” The U.K. ambassador to Turkey called the incident “reckless and worrying.”

#ВИДЕО: Дневные полеты авиагруппировки #ВКС РФ в #Сирия на аэродроме #Хмеймим #ВВС #Syria https://t.co/c6TQexkOI2 pic.twitter.com/xsgmvvm9KJ

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) October 5, 2015

When Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in March 2014, Russian media focused their full attention on the situation there. The ensuing conflict in Eastern Ukraine has left 8,000 dead and 1.4 million displaced, according to the United Nations. Russia has continued to deny any direct military presence in Ukraine as the conflict has fallen from the headlines in Russia.

Russia’s airstrikes in Syria come at a moment when Russian President Vladimir Putins’s astronomical approval ratings have fallen slightly. In a recent survey released by the Levada Center, only 14 percent of respondents thought Russia’s actions in Syria were for the protection of the Syrian people against the Islamic State group.