Moscow is recruiting experienced Syrian combatants to fight alongside Russian forces in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to four unnamed US officials speaking with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday.
The officials said that the US believes Russia —which has been involved in the Syrian conflict since 2015— hopes that Syrian fighters who have spent the past decade in urban warfare could help its largely conscripted forces expand deeper into Ukrainian cities.
One of the officials said it was unclear how many Syrian fighters had been identified by American intelligence, but that some are already in Russia preparing to enter combat.
According to a local newspaper based in the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, Russia has offered volunteers $200 to $300 “to go to Ukraine and operate as guards” for six-month-long deployments.
Charles Lister, a Syria-expert at the Middle East Institute, questioned the usefulness of the recruits and equated bringing Syrian fighters into Ukraine with “bringing Martians to fight on the moon”.
“They don’t speak the language, the environment is totally different”.
Last week, Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced the deployment of Chechen fighters to Ukraine to support the Russian invasion.
RT, the state-funded Russian news channel, released videos last Friday showing thousands of Chechen fighters geared up for battle in the main square of Grozny, Chechnya’s capital.
Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group are also reportedly active in Ukraine, having been assigned assassination missions with targets including the Ukrainian president.
Dr. Sean Mcfate, an American ex-private military contractor who claims to have spoken with Wagner estimates that 400 operators are currently in Ukraine.
Dr. Mcfate says the Kremlin is employing Wagner Group in Ukraine “as shock troops, as assassins… as a fifth column in front of the Russian invasion”.
On the other side, foreign volunteers are also pouring into the country to fight in support of Kyiv’s government. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, 16,000 foreigners have already joined the ranks of Ukraine’s recently established international legion.
Writer: Luc Hillion
Photo Credits: Times of Israel
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