Eight years ago, Syria’s civil war shifted in President Bashar Al-Assad’s favor after a Russian blitzkrieg on Aleppo helped him regain control over the country’s second biggest city.

Opposition forces seeking to overthrow Syria's President Bashar al-Assad launched their biggest offensive in years last week, retaking the northern city of Aleppo and driving government forces out of the region.

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.