Reuters
(Reuters) -Two strategically-important Russian military facilities in Syria and Moscow's very presence in the Middle East are under serious threat from rapidly advancing insurgents, Russian war bloggers have warned. With Russian military resources mostly tied down in Ukraine where Moscow's forces are rushing to take more territory before Donald Trump comes to power in the U.S. in January, Russia's ability to influence the situation on the ground in Syria is far more limited than in 2015 when it intervened decisively to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Rapid advances by the insurgents threaten to undermine Russia's geopolitical clout in the Middle East and its ability to project power in the region, across the Mediterranean and into Africa.