Syrian Fighters Heading to Russia to Join Troops in War on Ukraine
Edited by: TJVNews.com
A recent report in the New York Times indicated that hundreds of Syrian fighters are planning to join Russian forces in Ukraine. This has been interpreted as a quid pro quo of sorts, as it returns the favor to Moscow for helping President Bashar al-Assad crush rebels in an 11-year civil war, according to two people monitoring the flow of mercenaries, as reported by the NY Times.
According to recent AP report, thousands of mercenaries from the Russian private contractor Wagner Group have also deployed in Syria.
The Times report indicated that a first contingent of soldiers has already arrived in Russia for military training before heading to Ukraine, according to a Western diplomat and a Damascus-based ally of the Syrian government. It includes at least 300 soldiers from a Syrian army division that has worked closely with Russian officers who went to Syria to support al-Assad during the war.
And many more could be on the way: Recruiters across Syria have been drawing up lists of thousands of interested candidates to be vetted by the Syrian security services and then passed to the Russians, as was reported by the NY Times.
The Times also reported that Syria has grown in recent years into an exporter of mercenaries, a grim aftereffect of years of war that gave many men combat experience but so damaged the country’s economy that people now struggle to find work. So they have deployed as guns-for-hire to wars in Libya, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic — and now Ukraine.
On March 11th, the AP reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved bringing in volunteer fighters from the Middle East, particularly Syria.
But less clear is how significant, large or effective a Syrian deployment would be, according to the AP report.
Several weeks ago, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke of “more than 16,000 applications” already from the Middle East, though he didn’t specify which country. Syrian opposition activists say Russia recently began recruitment efforts in Syria for the Ukraine war but put the scale of those efforts so far at far lower numbers, the AP reported.
The announcement came after the Ukrainian government said about 20,000 foreigners from various nations have already joined the so-called International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine, most of them from Western countries.
Syria’s long, grueling war has given rise to a multitude of armed factions, militias and mercenaries on all sides of the conflict, as was reported by the AP.
The ranks of pro-government paramilitary groups in Syria include tens of thousands of so-called National Defense Forces, Christian militia fighters and army defectors skilled in urban and guerilla warfare. They also include other Russian-supported auxiliary units and militias that fought alongside the Syrian military.
“If need be, Russia could quickly recruit members of these groups to fight in Ukraine,” according to Danny Makki, a Syria analyst, according to the AP report.
Joined by Iran-backed fighters from nearby Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere in the region, these forces not only battled Syrian rebels, they also helped fight the Islamic State group after it overran large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.