>>508448803Russia had and still has bomber planes in its Syrian base throughout the conflict and it used the most simple gravity bombs while performing the bombing there (not glide bombs currently used in the Ukraine war). You can go to google maps and see a couple of SU planes being parked in the open even right now, but the exact number is difficult to ascertain due to the presence of hangars there.
However, if the ground army folds and gives up a million+ city in a matter of a couple of days and then rapidly retreats across the country in a matter of a couple of weeks the effect bombing can have is far far more limited, even with the same intensity as in 2016. Again, I'm not surprised at the conduct of the Syrian army, I'm surprised that neither Iran, Hezbollah or Iraqi militias got involved in any significant capacity. Iran does consider that area pretty important.