In Syria, Hezbollah conducts offensive and counter-insurgency operations, and fights side-by-side with Russian soldiers, including Spetsnaz. Although some sources suggest that Russia and Hezbollah are cooperating closely, other sources say they have strategic differences at not cooperating closely. The party's exposure to sophisticated Russian doctrine, EW capability, airpower, and combined arms could improve the party's capabilities, but also deter it by demonstrating the power of Israel. Hezbollah has specifically improved in command and control, working with other military organizations, and fighting in dense urban environments. The organization has improved its ability to operate with other Iranian-aligned forces and bettered its ability to conduct sustained operations outside of Lebanon in varied terrain. Hezbollah, which prepared for decades to fight Israel in southern Lebanon, instead had to fight militia forces as a large conventional force in unfamiliar terrain and in farmland and urban areas. Many sources note that the enemies Hezbollah faces in the war are very dissimilar to the IDF, and that some of the equipment and knowledge Hezbollah gains will not be usable against Israel. Participation in the war is said to have given Hezbollah a better understanding of conventional armed forces, airpower, and intelligence gathering. The war is Hezbollah's first offensive battlefield experience and the first time Hezbollah has coordinated hundreds of its own fighters.