Russia is recruiting Syrian mercenaries to send them to Ukraine
Russia has recruited a large number of Syrians highly skilled in urban combat to fight in Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal confirmed that Russia is seeking to find new methods in line with the course of the war it is launching on Ukraine, according to unnamed US officials.
The Journal cited four US officials as saying Moscow was interested in Syrians with experience in urban combat who might help Russian forces take Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital and largest city.
The newspaper pointed out that Russia gathered foreign fighters with experience in urban warfare in Syria, and offered them contracts with certain salaries and for a limited period.
US officials said the details of the number of foreign Syrian fighters and when they would be transferred to Ukraine was not yet clear.
The officials emphasized that Russia has offered volunteers from the country between $200 and $300 to go to Ukraine and operate as guards for six months at a time.
Jennifer Cavarella, director of national security at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington said: as volunteers from other countries pour into Ukraine, the conflict there could become a new center of gravity for foreign fighters.
During the past years, the Russian forces, through the Wagner militia, and with the help of the Assad regime, have recruited hundreds of Syrians to fight in Libya alongside the forces of Khalifa Haftar against the Libyan army of the Government of National Accord, taking advantage of the bad economic conditions and youth unemployment in Assad regime-controlled areas.
