Russia-Ukraine War

Report: Russia recruits Syrian fighters for war in Ukraine

The Wall Street Journal reported that Moscow wants to use Syrian fighters with experience in urban warfare to occupy Kyiv and other cities in the country.

Some, according to the report, are already undergoing preparations in Russia

Guy Elster

07/03/2022

Monday, 07 March 2022, 08:21

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Russian Sheep used Syrian fighters in Libya.

Putin and Assad in the Kremlin, last year (Photo: Reuters)

Russia is recruiting fighters from Syria to help it in the war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported last night (Sunday).

According to four American sources, Moscow is targeting Syrian fighters with experience in urban warfare so that they can help Russian forces occupy Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

According to the report, it is not known how many Syrian fighters were recruited at this stage or if they have already been sent to Ukraine, but one source said that some of them are already undergoing preparations in Russia.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The Syrian website Deir a-Zour 24 reported last week that Russia is offering Syrian fighters between $ 200 and $ 300 for "guard" missions in Ukraine for six months.

The site reported that Russia had approached the Syrians fighting in Libya.

In 2020, Reuters reported that Russia had hired hundreds of Syrian mercenaries to fight in the ranks of General Khalif Khatar in Libya.

Turkey also recruited Syrian fighters, sending them to Libya - where it supports the rival government - and to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russia intervened in the war in Syria in 2015 and saved Bashar Assad's regime by helping it regain most of Syrian territory.

It has an air and naval base in the country, and a presence on the ground of Russian forces requires Israel to coordinate with Moscow its operations in the country.

The war in Ukraine

• The 12th day of the fighting - regular updates

In the video: Russian documentation of helicopters hitting Ukrainian targets (Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense)

Foreign fighters also joined the war alongside Ukraine.

At the beginning of the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalansky announced the establishment of an international legion for foreigners who wanted to come to Ukraine and fight against Russia.

Several thousand Americans, Britons and other Western citizens have already expressed a willingness to join, and it has been reported that several hundred of them have already arrived in Ukraine.

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