According to Western diplomats, a Russian expeditionary force has already arrived in Syria and set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase. The base is said to be in area surrounding Damascus, and will serve, for all intents and purposes, as a Russian forward operating base.

In the coming weeks thousands of Russian military personnel are set to touch down in Syria, including advisors, instructors, logistics personnel, technical personnel, members of the aerial protection division, and the pilots who will operate the aircraft.

Persistent rumors resurfaced at the end of last month that Russia, dismayed by the difficulties that the Syrian regime has endured at the hands of ISIS and other rebel groups, has committed a large-scale force into the country to prop up the faltering Assad regime.

But these unconfirmed reports are nothing but rumors couched in the barest of facts, Mark Galeotti, a New York University professor specializing in global affairs and Russian and Slavic studies, told Business Insider.

In fact, the rumors miss one of the major developing stories of the conflict. Ultimately, "Russia sees Assad as a spent force," Galeotti told BI. "We keep hearing these stories because there are people with political incentives for when one data point pops up."