Assad’s favor after a Russian blitzkrieg on Aleppo helped him regain control over the country’s second biggest city.

The insurgent offensive, shocking for its speed, has posed the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.

Syrian rebels stormed into the city of Aleppo on Friday in a major advance that sent tremors through the regime of Bashar al-Assad.The push led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group had by Friday evening seized at least five western districts of the city,