Reuters
Mark Urban, BBC: Russia's Syria intervention: One month in
The deployment of a Russian strike force of 34 combat jets and 21 helicopters showed how billions invested in the armed forces by President Vladimir Putin had paid off. Within days of arriving they were flying attack missions, and have now clocked up something like 1,000 of them.
President Putin wanted to show the world that he would bring a zeal to the battle against militancy in Syria that had been sorely lacking under the American-led coalition.
So, whereas the US-led air forces have averaged around six strikes per day during the past year (actually less during this last month) the Russians started with eight, were soon up to a couple of dozen, and have mounted as many as 94 strikes in a single day.
Update: Month of Russian air strikes on Syria kill nearly 600: monitor (Reuters).
WNU Editor: A short but concise analysis on Russia's military campaign in Syria.