money running low and he has a legit challenger in the next election.
Nope. It cost them peanut on their annual budget to be there. Russia is not some third world country. They have a good military budget, way behind the US, like everybody, but they are top 3/4 when it comes to budget. They are good.
And Putin got that election in a bag.
Assad is safe, he's weakened but he's safe. Russians will remain in their bases and that's it. Assad, Hezbollah and Iranians can deal with the rest. They did what they came in for.