Russia is increasing its military personnel. While 150,000 troops have been stationed on the border with Ukraine since the conflict began, Vladimir Putin’s country is seeking military support from its allies. And according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), Russia has compiled lists of 40,000 Syrian army fighters and allied militias ready to be deployed in Ukraine.
The Kremlin also announced on March 11 that volunteers, including those from Syria, could fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine, which has been captured by the Russian army since February 24.
According to the OSDH, Russian officers, in coordination with the Syrian army and allied militias, opened reception centers in areas held by the Damascus regime. Those officers, stationed in Syria as part of Moscow’s 2015 intervention to support the Damascus regime, approved 22,000 of them, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the OSDH.
The fighters are either regular Syrian army units or pro-government militias trained by the Russians and experienced in urban combat, according to the OSDH.
Another 18,000 people registered under the leadership of the Wagner group.
In a country where soldiers earn between 13 and 32 euros a month, Russia promises them a salary of $1,100 (about 1,000 euros) for fighting in Ukraine, the Observatory reports. They are also eligible for $7,700 in damages if they are injured, and their families will receive $16,500 if they die in action, according to the same source.
At least 18,000 people will be placed under the leadership of the nebulous Wagner Group, a private Russian paramilitary company with ties to the Kremlin, the OSDH said, adding that it has not yet noticed the departure of Syrian recruits to Ukraine.
However, a Syrian government spokesman denied the existence of this recruitment campaign: “So far, not a single name is registered, not a single soldier is registered and no one has gone to Russia to fight in Ukraine,” Omar Rahmoun of the National Reconciliation Committee. told AFP.
Recall that Syrian mercenaries have already fought in Libya and in the Caucasian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war tactics adopted by Russia in Ukraine are reminiscent of tactics Moscow has been testing for years in Syria, where the Russians have tested most of their weapons.