Wojtek
" I think "support" is the wrong word. I think Moscow's greatest concern is of an alliance (NATO) that is hostile to it getting into the habit of overthrowing regimes it doesn't like. Especially when, in Moscow's ever-cautious view of things, it tends to make things worse (eg Kosovo and Libya).
Russia is at present very much a status quo power and prefers things to stay as they were while it pays attention to its internal problems. So it's caution and defensiveness not love of Assad or the others. All of Russia's overtures to the West have been rejected, don't forget -- and there was a real chance of an common interest after 911.
Given the skepticism with which Moscow views the spontaneity of the "coloured revolutions" and suspicions about the involvement of Washington & Co in the current anti-Putin protests, lots of people there wonder who will be next."