Russia has redeployed critical military equipment and troops from Syria to Ukraine. The New York Times writes about this, citing two Western diplomats and an Israeli official.
According to them, we are talking about the S-300 air defense system and several thousand soldiers. Two NYT interlocutors said that two battalions were withdrawn from Syria, that is, from 1,200 to 1,600 soldiers. According to a third source, there were many more soldiers. The Israeli official also said that several Russian commanders had been redeployed to Ukraine.
NYT sources emphasize that after the start of the war, Russia became less involved in managing military operations in Syria, including in coordination with Israel. According to the publication, the withdrawal of the S-300 from Syria may help change Israel's views on helping Ukraine. Earlier, Israel feared that this air defense could be used by Syria against its aircraft. This was also the main reason why Israel rejected Ukraine's requests for military assistance.
On October 16, Israeli Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai said that "the time has come to provide Ukraine with military assistance, as the United States and NATO countries do." This statement was made after it became known that Russia is buying ballistic missiles from Iran. However, already on October 19, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that there would be no deliveries of Israeli weapons to Ukraine.