Russia is using its veto in the UN Security Council to prevent the organization of a UN military aid operation for the Syrian opposition. This prevents the kind of aid the Libyan rebels got. The Russians lost a lot of money when the Libyan dictatorship was overthrown. There were unpaid billions for weapons already delivered, plus lost future sales. For decades, Libya had been a major customer for Russian weapons. The new Libyan government will not buy any more Russian weapons and will not honor unpaid bills for past deliveries.It seems that for decades Qadaffy, not Libya, was a major customer for Russian weaponry. The NTC figures Aisha and Hannibal and Saadi can pay off Pop's debts. Having supported their nattily dressed client rather than jumping on the NTC bandwagon, Putin and Co. are now paying the price.
Russia is determined not to lose Syria in the same way.
You can tell Putin is a genius by the fact that he's not supporting the coming new regime so as to get on their good side, but sticking with the existing, literally fascist, regime. A popular form of insanity involves doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to get different results.
This Russian opposition sends a message that a dictatorship can openly (via the Internet and cell-phone photos) slaughter their people and maintain tyrannical rule in spite of most UN members condemning this sort of misbehavior.
And now Russers seem to be turning out in the streets to toss a few words at Waldemar and Duh-mitri..
If a tyrant has one of the few UN nations with a Security Council veto on their side, bloody repression can be used without fear of armed intervention. Most of the world doesn't like this, but Russia is a nuclear power and determined to use its veto to serve Russian interests.
Even when serving Russia's interests in the short term demolishes Russia's interests in the long term. Go figure.
More Strategy Page discussion follows, filling in detail...