Of Course It Was.

I am sure the price list for Syrian generals and officers was circulated by themselves among any bidders who were ready to buy them. 

A former general in ex-Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army who found refuge in central Russia has spoken to local media. The man, who gave an interview to 66.RU on condition of anonymity, told the media outlet that he is determined to integrate into Russian society and is not considering returning to Syria. The ex-general, who asked to be identified by his call sign ‘Wolf’, recalled the overthrow of the Assad government in December. During a swift offensive by Islamist anti-government groups in Syria, he watched as many of his comrades, including senior commanders, deserted their positions en masse. “I can’t wrap my head around it. It was treason, there are no two ways about it,” Wolf told Russian reporters. After the coup, the ex-general left his wife and children in a hiding place for fear of persecution by the militants. He then managed to make it to the Russian Khmeimim Air Base along with his sister and two nephews. He explained that his children would most likely not have been able to complete the perilous trip. After being transported to Russia, he ended up in the country’s Sverdlovsk Region. Wolf, who studied in Leningrad (nowadays St. Petersburg) in the USSR, already had a good command of Russian when he arrived, but continues to master the language.

This was the same with Saddam's Army, most of which was bought off by the CIA prior to 2003. This is a feature, not a bug of Arab militaries where corruption and incompetence of the command starts from junior officer level up. Same goes for governments. In Syria, however, there was another factor at play which many simply ignore--a professional envy. Once Russians took control of most of operations in Syria, which inevitably drew the admiration of much of the local population, there was a lot of consternation among many in Syrian Army and, not surprisingly, among many with close ties to Hezbollah and Iran in general. I wrote about it a few years back. 

Russian media have been writing about the "level" of those Syrian officers as early as 2015-2016--they loved to do what most Arab militaries love--to flaunt their "combat" awards and expensive cars. I repeat--this is not a bug but a feature. It is also a reason why, however NOT Arabs and Shiites to boot, Iranians (many of them) continued to live in the alternative universe of West's fairy tales and declined Russia's offer on serious military cooperation. Here is a reminder:

They waited until June 16th, when the shit hit the fan big time,  before sending it for signature. They disregarded Russia's offers and warnings. Sometimes what passes for sovereignty is nothing more than fear of being exposed as inferior.