Insanely clear video shows a Syrian army offensive in a rebel stronghold of Damascus

Unnervingly clear drone footage shows an ongoing Syrian army offensive against a rebel stronghold in Damascus. 

Footage of the offensive filmed by RussiaWorks, a Russian company with ties to the Kremlin, is vividly clear. And it shows the severe damage that the Damascus neighborhood of Jobar has withstood since the popular uprisings against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad first started in 2011. 

Jobar has frequently borne the brunt of regime attacks because of its proximity to government-held areas of Damascus. In April of 2013, several French reporters with La Monde reported seeing a series of chemical attacks in the neighborhood. 

The alleged chemical attacks foreshadowed the August 21st, 2013 chemical weapon strike the Assad regime carried out in Ghouta, outside of Damascus, in which nearly 1,500 people died. 

The video shows a tank firing at a target:

Two tanks approaching a fork in the road:

A tank firing at a distant building:

An aerial view of explosions throughout Jobar:

An aerial view of the destruction in the area:

Another overhead view of the destruction:

Business Insider cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video. But the footage tracks with other pro-Kremlin videos RussiaWorks has produced to bolster domestic support for Moscow's foreign incursions, from Crimea to Syria.

"RussiaWorks is part of a slick campaign by the Kremlin to sell the war at home and project Russia as a military power," Boris Zilberman, a Russia expert at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told BI.

 "The videos are put together by a number of Russian war correspondents/production folks that are tied to the Kremlin and probably have a lot of time on their hands - and some good drones - to make highly edited videos."

Russia's military intervention in Syria began with air strikes on rebel-held areas on September 30, though Russian forces had been building up their presence in the coastal province of Latakia for over a month prior.

Since then, Moscow has had a difficult time selling its intervention at home. According to an opinion poll administered earlier this month by the Moscow-based Levada center, over two-thirds of Russians said they would oppose sending Russian combat troops into Syria to support the Assad regime. 

More than 40% of Russians polled still oppose providing the regime with weapons and military consultation, which the Kremlin has been doing since the conflict erupted in 2011.

You can view the entire drone footage here: