September 30, 2016 marked the first anniversary of Russia’s direct military involvement in the Syrian conflict. Although many onlookers initially believed that recent attempts to broker peace would succeed due to Russia’s leverage over the Syrian government, this has not turned out to be the case. Instead, Russia has disrupted the peace process by actively contradicting its verbal commitments for peace in Syria and supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s actions militarily as well as politically through the UN Security Council. The following includes a sampling of five actions by Russia that have been obstacles to peace:

1. Russia has encouraged and proliferated attacks on civilians

International humanitarian law (IHL) is the guiding framework for actions taken during warfare, including the treatment of civilians and those no longer participating in hostilities. Prior to direct Russian intervention, the Syrian government was already accused of committing numerous IHL violations, such as the targeting of hospitals and civilian populations, the forced displacement of civilians, and the use of chemical weapons. Instead of holding the Syrian government to a higher standard, Russia has instead increased the severity of Syria’s violations. Almost immediately after Russia entered the conflict in October 2015, for example, its air strikes targeted six medical facilities, and since then human rights groups have claimed the health crisis has worsened due to the continued destruction of health facilities. Moreover, Russia has been supporting Syria’s tactic of systematic forced displacement, such as advocating for humanitarian corridors to pressure civilians in eastern Aleppo to leave the area or be subject to attacks.