What did Bashar al-Assad not know? / With his fall, is another government willing to trust Moscow?

Shargh newspaper wrote:
As for Assad's fall, factors such as the tied hands of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Russia's involvement in Ukraine, and Iran's restrictions are often cited as factors that led to the collapse of the Assad government. But these are excuses worse than sin. Should a political system rely so much on external factors to protect itself from internal factors?
Russia's inability to help its ally is a great lesson that the recent developments in Syria bring. Moscow, either out of impotence or lack of willpower, has been unable to do anything to its only ally in the Middle East.