Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday approved plans to recruit 16,000 fighters from the Middle East to take part in the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at a Russian security council meeting, he said those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russia-backed forces should be allowed to.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces.
Dozens of men in camouflage uniforms, holding Kalashnikov assault rifles and waving pro-Russian banners, appeared in video footage that Russia’s Defense Ministry said was a gathering of soldiers in Syria ready to join the Ukraine conflict.
“If you see that there are people who want of their own accord — not for money — to come to help … then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Putin told Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu at a security council meeting in Moscow.
Russia’s defense ministry said the deployment would be made to the breakaway Donbas region of eastern Ukraine where much of the recent fighting had been focused.
Even for a military worn down by a decade of war at home, the offer of such a salary will probably prove to be a significant enticement for forces loyal to Assad, who has clawed back control of close to two-thirds of Syria, largely thanks to Russian air cover and the widespread use of Iranian mercenaries on the ground.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said the move was a sign of the Russian army’s weakness. “Where’s the powerful Russian army if they can’t get by without Syrians?” he said. “If they want us also to kill 16,000 Syrians, let them come.”
Speaking at a Russian security council meeting, he said those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russia-backed forces should be allowed to.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces.
Dozens of men in camouflage uniforms, holding Kalashnikov assault rifles and waving pro-Russian banners, appeared in video footage that Russia’s Defense Ministry said was a gathering of soldiers in Syria ready to join the Ukraine conflict.
“If you see that there are people who want of their own accord — not for money — to come to help … then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Putin told Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu at a security council meeting in Moscow.
Russia’s defense ministry said the deployment would be made to the breakaway Donbas region of eastern Ukraine where much of the recent fighting had been focused.
Even for a military worn down by a decade of war at home, the offer of such a salary will probably prove to be a significant enticement for forces loyal to Assad, who has clawed back control of close to two-thirds of Syria, largely thanks to Russian air cover and the widespread use of Iranian mercenaries on the ground.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said the move was a sign of the Russian army’s weakness. “Where’s the powerful Russian army if they can’t get by without Syrians?” he said. “If they want us also to kill 16,000 Syrians, let them come.”
