[Figment]

Russia did supply them with a lot of the weaponry and delivery systems, including the chemical stuff, most of it is pretty old though from what I recall, Cold War / Iraq-Iran war era (80s-90s). :/ But also most modern military tech in Syria is from Russian and Iranian make. The same can be said for a lot of regimes in the middle east, some which have fallen, some which still exist.

SCUDs wern't really designed and produced locally either for instance...

Russia is well-known to be one of the biggest arms dealers in the world, particularly for "less than civil" third world countries where Russia wants or wanted to have influence you'll find loads of Soviet/Russian tech. Military and otherwise.

I find it incredibly hypocritical when people point at the USA for being "all about oil", when China is the biggest exploiter in the world of third world resources, while before that Russia and the USA competed equally for the favour of small nations. Where Russia frequently attempted to annex areas into the USSR. Both sides have installed regimes through Coup d'État's and supported dictators and both failed many times in establishing the most influence in some same nation the other was going for.

But when it comes to Syria explicitly, it's Russia and Iran. And some North Korea.