Conversely, Putin and Iran stand to be big winners as the saviors of the Assad regime. In Chechnya, civilians fled Grozny through an open corridor and the city was largely flattened. Vladimir Putin's Defense Minister has announced that Syrian forces loyal President Bashar al-Assad will let civilians leave through three corridors, and rebels through another, to escape besieged districts of Aleppo. It has already been badly battered by Assad and Putin's air force and now faces a siege that could totally cut off food supplies to rebel held areas-a frequently-used Assad starvation tactic. From videos of Aleppo, large parts of the city are in ruins.

Source: Huffington Post July 31, 2016 07:41 UTC