Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be very proud of his military adventure in Syria. Moreover, it has become an important part of advertising Russian arms, which Moscow sells abroad.

About this on the pages of Bloomberg wrote columnist Tobin Harshou. During a meeting with Russian weapons manufacturers, Putin spoke of an unprecedented desire to buy weapons from Russia, which appeared "thanks to effective use in real, combat conditions, including during the operation in Syria".

"But despite the fact that Putin pronounces proud speeches, they are not hard to hear the notes of desperation. After several years of phenomenal growth, the export of Russian weapons was in stagnation. And it happened very badly when the collapse of oil prices devastated the Russian economy against the backdrop of a massive buildup of military power, "reads the article.

The author recognizes that it is difficult to measure arms exports. But according to expert Sergei Denisentsev, from 2005 to 2013, sales of Russian weapons abroad have tripled, but after that each year they either fell or remained at the same level. The expert named some reasons for this collapse.

First of all, this may be due to the fact that China and India, which traditionally bought almost half of Russian weapons, set up their own production.

Secondly, Vietnam, which was also a large market for Russia, finally got access to supplies from the US. After all, President Barack Obama lifted the ban on the sale of weapons to an Asian country. Third, low oil prices have drastically reduced the purchasing power of oil countries such as Algeria, Nigeria and Azerbaijan, which were also major buyers for Russia.

The author notes that against the backdrop of all this, Putin may have reasons to boast of the success of the invasion of Syria. But it certainly did not help him increase Russian incomes.