Russian Senate unanimously authorizes Putin to deploy forces to Syria. Kremlin says air strikes are on the table.

Members of Russia's Federation Assembly voted unanimously earlier today to authorize the use of Russian armed forces abroad in Syria. According to Sergey Ivanov, the Kremlin official who brought the proposal to the Federation Assembly, Moscow is responding to a formal request for military assistance from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Ivanov specified that Russia is only considering the use of its Air Force, and excluding any possibility of large-scale operations on the ground.

Various media sources have been reporting on Russia’s growing military presence in Syria since early September. According to sources speaking to The Financial Times, Russia will deploy 2,000 military personnel to its new air base in Latakia. According to other reports, there are currently 1,700 Russian military personnel at the Tartus base.

According to Vladimir Putin, Moscow's work in Syria is focused on supporting those who "resist and fight against terrorists," including ISIL. The best equipped forces to defeat such groups, Putin says, are the Syrian Army and Kurdish militias. 

Putin has also argued that the current US-led international coalition against ISIL is illegal, insofar as it's sanctioned by neither the UN Security Council nor the Syrian government. Putin says similar air strikes now being carried out in Iraq are legal, because the Iraqi government requested help against ISIL.