Starting on Sept 30, Russia launched closely-watched airstrikes against what it calls Islamic State (IS) extremist targets in Syria, the first military actions by Moscow in the Middle East since the former Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan ended in the 1980s. However, the bombings were met with strong *skepticism and criticism from the US. President Barack Obama warned that Russia might get itself stuck in a “*quagmire” in Syria, The New York Times reported.