Anton G. Mardasov

The author considers the specifics of the confrontation between Russia and the United States in Syria against the background of the change of power in Damascus and the Russian armed forces’ special military operation in Ukraine. In the context of Russian military planning, the author points out the peculiarities of Moscow’s maintenance of the military and political balance of power in the Black Sea and Mediterranean theaters of military operations as a single operational area under the jurisdiction of the Southern Military District. The author shows the details of Russia’s geostrategic planning with reliance on military facilities in Tartus and Hmeimim, their place in the defense of Russian territories. The relevance of the study of this issue is due to the fact that Moscow is negotiating to maintain a military presence in Syria after the opposition comes to power, which increases the relevance of understanding the possible format of interaction — both in terms of delivery of humanitarian aid to the country to continue to provide assistance to the Syrian people, and to maintain the ability to conduct operations to deter the US and maintain logistics in the framework of counterterrorism cooperation between Moscow and African countries.