After the initial shock of intensive Russian airstrikes, Syrian rebels on the receiving end of a major offensive say better organization and new tactics have helped them to stem losses and fight back.
A month of Russian airstrikes in support of government offensives have cost the rebels in lives and supplies: commanders have been killed, bases bombed, and weapons depleted.
Supported by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanon's Hezbollah, this is the first multipronged attack of its kind in nearly five years of war that have diminished President Bashar Assad's control to a quarter or less of Syria.