this is the town of bazina in the countryside. people who live here say fighting between syrian government forces and opposition fighters has been nonstop for two months. they say the syrian regime is trying to break the deadlock with the help of russian air strikes >> >> translation: this is from the regime of bashar al-assad. this is what's happening to us. where are you muslim brothers? >> reporter: russia began bombing syria in september. it says its targeting i.s.i.l., but the institute for the study of war, a u.s. based think tank, says the russian air campaign has mainly hit syrian opposition groups. >> translation: the russian and sir air strikes-- syrian air strikes have increased. they pretend they're targeting terrorists, but the majority of those killed are women and children. >> reporter: these are scenes that the people have become familiar with. what has begun as an uprise against government has descended into civil war. that cycle of violence is played out across the country for almost five years now and killed at