Putin Says Russia Will Use Volunteer Fighters From The Middle East

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a meeting with government members via video link in Moscow, Russia, March 10, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

LONDON, March 11 – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday gave the go-ahead to send up to 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East alongside Russian-backed rebels to fight in Ukraine, doubling down on an invasion that the West said was losing momentum.

The move, coming just over two weeks after Putin ordered the invasion, allows Russia to bring in battle-hardened mercenaries from conflicts like Syria without risking additional Russian military casualties. More

At a meeting of the Russian Security Council, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russian-backed forces in the separatist Donbass in eastern Ukraine.

“If you see that there are people who, of their own free will, and not for money, want to come to the aid of people living in Donbas, then we must give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Putin said. — said from the Kremlin.

Shoigu also suggested that Western Javelin and Stinger missiles captured by the Russian army in Ukraine be handed over to Donbass forces along with other weapons such as man-portable air defense systems known as MANPADS and anti-tank missiles. complexes.

“As for the supply of weapons, especially Western-made, that fell into the hands of the Russian army, I, of course, support the possibility of their transfer to the military units of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics,” Putin said.

“Please do it,” he told Shoigu. The exchange was shown on Russian state television.

Putin says a “special military operation” in Ukraine is needed to keep Russia safe after the United States expanded NATO to its borders and backed pro-Western leaders in Kyiv.

Ukraine says it is fighting for its existence, while the United States and its European and Asian allies condemn the Russian invasion. China called for calm.

Shoigu said the operation was going according to plan before asking Putin for approval to use fighter jets from the Middle East.

U.S. intelligence chiefs told lawmakers on Thursday that Russia was surprised by the strength of Ukrainian resistance, depriving the Kremlin of a quick victory that it believes would have prevented the United States and NATO from providing meaningful military assistance. More

According to Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns, this is causing concern in Beijing.

“I do think that the Chinese leadership, in particular President Xi (Jinping), is concerned,” Burns said. “From what he saw, partly because his own intelligence didn’t seem to tell him what was going to happen.”

Shoigu said Western weapons were entering Ukraine “absolutely unchecked” and that the Russian military was planning to fortify its western border after he called a build-up of Western military units on the border with Russia.

“The General Staff is developing and practically completed a plan to strengthen our western borders, including, of course, new modern complexes,” Shoigu said.

Putin said that the question of how to respond to the actions of NATO countries requires a separate discussion.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Tomasz Janowski

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