FOR a moment, the deafening roar of a jet engine drowns out the shrieks of joy from children splashing in the warm waters of the Mediterranean.
Another Russia warplane is taking off from Latakia airport, in northern Syria — proof of the growing involvement by President Vladimir Putin in what he calls a “war on terrorism” and his critics denounce as merely an attempt to prop up his ally, President Bashar al-Assad, by attacking pro-western insurgents rather than the fanatics of Isis.
After a military build-up dating back several weeks, Russia now has about 50 aircraft in Syria. Yet an unexpected calm hangs over the airport, which was recently closed to international civilian flights to make room for the Russian forces.
On one side, military planes are lined up in small groups of twos, threes and fours. Russian technicians and maintenance workers and trucks can be seen moving along the tarmac.
The Kremlin says it is flying an average of about 50 missions a day in Syria, although the number, co-ordinated with Assad’s ground forces, varies from day to day.
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Sources close to the operation say the aim is eventually to raise this to 200-300 a day, marking a considerable escalation. As part of preparations, a new airstrip is reported to be under construction nearby.
Russia, using the conflict to showcase its military prowess, has deployed Su-24M and Su-34 bombers, low-flying ground attack Su-25CM jets and multi-role Su-30CM fighters. They are backed by Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters and multi-role Mi-8 helicopters.
Military analysts said the first airstrikes, which began on September 30, were aimed at probing rebel forces, establishing their positions and the extent of their firepower.
By attacking simultaneously on several fronts, Assad and his allies hope to deprive insurgents of the ability to move forces in the defence of a particular front, keeping them bogged down and overstretched.
A source close to the operation said the targets were chosen by the Syrians. They were then passed on for verification by Russian drones — one of which Turkey claims to have shot down last week.
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The targets were then displayed on monitors in the operations room, where a Russian orthodox priest is also said to have been present.
The source said Russians, worried about how their actions would be perceived by the outside world, rejected some Syrian requests — especially when they involved targeting mosques, abandoned churches or schools believed to be used by the insurgents as bases.
“The Russians refused to hit them because they are religious symbols, despite their military importance,” the source said. “They are extremely concerned about the image of Russia’s military actions here.”
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It is difficult independently to verify such claims, which are at odds with assertions by rebel groups, who have posted pictures and videos of civilians — children among them — who they say have been killed in the strikes.
The Kremlin claims its operation is directed purely against Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, and its affiliates.
The West says much of Russia’s firepower has been directed against US-backed moderate rebels from the Free Syrian Army — and civilians.
The Russian airstrikes coincide with fresh attacks by the Syrian army on rebel groups that have wrested much of the country from Assad’s control since the start of the bloody civil war four years ago.
On Friday, the Syrian army and its allied Iranian and Hezbollah forces, backed by the Russian airstrikes, began a ground offensive against insurgents in Aleppo, which is home to 2m people and divided between government forces and their opponents.
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The military assault built on a ground attack launched by the same alliance last week against rebels in Hama province further west.
The drive towards Aleppo came a day after an assault on rebel-held towns north of Homs, a centre of opposition to the government.
Recapturing the area north of Homs would help reassert Assad’s control over the main population centres of western Syria and secure territory linking Damascus to the coastal heartland of his minority Alawites.
In Latakia the atmosphere seems strangely cheery and the war far away. Inside the base, Russian pilots or workers jog in shorts in the heat of the day.
“They take their jogging as religiously as we take our sheeshas [hookahs],” said one local. “Maybe we will convert them to sheesha sessions and they’ll convert us to jogging.”