Vladimir Putin has reportedly drafted in feared Syrian barrel bomb specialists to help with Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine.
The bombs have been used to devastating effect in the 10-year Syrian civil war, with evidence suggesting Bashar al-Assad’s forces used them to kill thousands of civilians and destroy vast swathes of cities.
According to The Guardian, intelligence officers have said more than 50 experts in the manufacture and use of raw explosives traveled to Russia weeks ago to work with officials in Moscow’s armies.
It is believed that the arrival of the specialists was one of the main reasons that both the United States and European countries warned that chemical weapons could be used in the conflict in Ukraine.
Barrel bombs are barrels filled with crude explosives and shrapnel, typically dropped from a helicopter. The bombs typically weigh between 300kg and 600kg and, despite their DIY nature, can destroy anything within an 800ft radius.
In addition to explosives, al-Assad’s regime has also been accused of filling canisters with deadly chemicals like chlorine and throwing them at cities occupied by opposition forces, killing hundreds and sparking allegations of human rights abuses.
Al-Assad has denied his forces ever used such weapons.
Barrel bombs have been used to devastating effect in the 10-year Syrian civil war, with evidence suggesting that Bashar al-Assad’s forces used them to kill thousands of civilians and destroy vast swathes of cities. Pictured: Local residents inspect damage at a site hit by activists who were barrel-bombed by warplanes in Aleppo April 18, 2015
In 2014, Human Rights Watch said it had documented 650 locations where barrel bombs were believed to have been dropped in Aleppo alone. In 2020, Amnesty International said barrel bomb attacks had killed more than 11,000 civilians since 2012.
Human Rights Watch reported scenes that differed from conventional bombings, revealing larger, irregularly sized craters.
Barrel bombs proved particularly effective for al-Assad’s military in pushing back the rebels during the 10-year war in Syria, largely due to the fact that the government had air capacity but the rebels did not.
In Ukraine this is not the case. Kiev’s armed forces are armed with a range of anti-aircraft missiles capable of shooting down helicopters and fighter jets, which has prevented Russia from gaining air superiority.
Speaking to The Guardian, a European official said this likely acted as a deterrent and may be why barrel bombs have not yet been seen in Ukraine.
“We know the capacity is there, but if they use it, they lose; We will know who did it and they will probably be killed anyway,” the anonymous official told the newspaper.
Vladimir Putin has reportedly drafted in feared Syrian barrel bomb specialists to help with Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine. Pictured: Local residents search for survivors at a site said to have been attacked by a barrel bomb in 2017
Barrel bombs appear to have never been seen in Ukraine, but it would not be out of character for Putin to use such weapons to further his military goals in a war that has already claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians.
Putin’s forces have been accused of committing multiple war crimes in Ukraine since the Russian president ordered his forces across the border on February 24.
In one instance, a Russian missile attack hit a theater in Mariupol used as a shelter by hundreds of civilians. As many as 600 are believed to have been killed.
There have also been reports of Russia’s use of cluster bombs and munitions, which are banned under international law by a 2008 treaty, although not signed by Russia or Ukraine.
In April it was reported that hundreds of Russian-trained Syrian fighters have pledged to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine.
They include Syrian soldiers, former rebels and experienced fighters who have been fighting the Islamic State group in the Syrian desert for years.
By April only a small number appeared to have arrived in Russia for military training before deployment to the front lines.
Although Kremlin officials boasted more than 16,000 applications from the Middle East early in the war, US officials and operatives monitoring Syria said in April that no significant number of fighters from the region had yet joined the war.
As Russia shifted its focus to eastern Ukraine after being pushed back from Kyiv, Putin appointed General Alexander Dvornikov, who commanded the Russian military in Syria, as the new wartime commander in Ukraine.
Though some question how effective Syrian fighters would be in Ukraine, they could be deployed when more forces are needed to besiege cities or to offset mounting casualties.
Dvornikov is intimately familiar with the numerous paramilitary forces in Syria trained by Russia, while overseeing the strategy of ruthlessly besieging and bombing opposition-held cities in Syria in a bid to subdue them.
Syrian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a bakery after it was hit by a barrel bomb by Syrian regime forces in the Ansari district of Aleppo, Syria, June 9, 2015
Among the fighters who signed up to fight in Ukraine were members of Brig Gen Suheil al-Hassan, Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said last month.
Around 700 members of al-Hassan’s 25th Special Missions Forces Division, known in Syria as “Tiger Force,” left Syria to fight alongside Russian forces, Abdurrahman said. The numbers could not be independently confirmed.
Pro-government activists have posted videos on social media over the past two weeks showing Tiger Force members engaged in military exercises, including parachuting from helicopters.
Russian officers appeared in one of the videos advising the paratroopers in a helicopter while al-Hassan praised the young men by patting them on the head. It wasn’t immediately clear if the videos were new.
Abdurrahman said there were also volunteers from the Russian-trained 5th Division; the Ba’ath Brigades, the armed wing of Assad’s ruling Ba’ath Party; and the Palestinian Quds Brigade, made up of Palestinian refugees in Syria. All fought alongside the Russian military in the war in Syria.
“The Russians are looking for experienced fighters. They don’t want anyone who wasn’t trained by the Russians,” Abdurrahman said.
Barrel bombs are barrels filled with crude explosives and shrapnel, typically dropped from a helicopter. The bombs typically weigh between 300kg and 600kg and, despite their DIY nature, can destroy anything within an 800ft radius
Tiger Force has been credited with some of the government’s greatest victories in the 11-year conflict.
It was involved in a month-long Russian-backed campaign into the last rebel enclave in northwestern Idlib province that ended with government forces capturing a key north-south highway in March 2020 — though the rebels retained control of the enclave to have.
Al-Hassan “is one of Russia’s men and Russia will rely on him,” said Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads DeirEzzor 24, a group monitoring the Syrian war.
Hundreds of fighters from the 5th Division and the Quds Brigade have registered at Russia’s Hmeimeem base in western Syria, which is leading the recruitment effort, and are awaiting orders, he said.
In late March, a Russian-trained force called the “ISIS Hunters” militia, which had been fighting ISIS for years, published an ad urging men aged 23 to 49 to come forward for an investigation, naming them those who pass the test and are found suitable are called later.
Men have reportedly been promised a monthly income of no less than $600, a huge sum of money given widespread unemployment and the plummeting Syrian pound.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said last month the US had indications that the Wagner Group was trying to recruit fighters, mostly from the Middle East, for deployment in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region.
But he said there was “no specific information” about the numbers recruited. “We’re just not there yet to see anything really demonstrable when it comes to reinforcements,” he added.