Valery Anisimov and his fellow Russian servicemen were smuggled out of the Black Sea by ship, hidden below deck. They grew their hair long so they could pass as tourists, then landed at a Syrian port to join up with government military units.
Their trip took place in January 1983, 32 years before Russia's military again joined a Syrian conflict with its launch last month of airstrikes on militant groups opposed to the Damascus government.
As Anisimov's story shows, even if Russia's entry into the Syrian conflict caught Western countries off guard, it is only the continuation of a long history of involvement in the Middle East.