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

Images shared on social media have illustrated the anger that Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad feel toward his ally Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader has been indispensable in propping up Assad's regime during the brutal Syrian civil war that started in 2011 but has been essentially frozen over the last four years.

Rebels in Syria took control of the Nayrab Military Airport in Aleppo, Al Jazeera reported, citing opposition officials on December 2.Footage from local news outlet Shaam Network shows abandoned military planes and a helicopter at the base.