Russia can help defeat the IS

Russia has been carrying out airstrikes against terrorist targets in Syria since Sept 30. Its direct military involvement in the country could be a game-changer for efforts to combat the Islamic State terrorist group.

The necessity to fight the IS group and the request for assistance from Syrian President Bashar Assad have given Russia's actions legitimacy and won it approval from the international community. And the initial results from Russia's airstrikes are impressive: Russian aircraft have performed over 80 missions destroying around 50 terrorist facilities.

Russia's involvement is a direct response to the ineffectiveness of the US-led international coalition which has been bombing IS targets in Syria and Iraq for more than a year.