Several tens of thousands of Syrians soon alongside Russian forces? Russia has drawn up lists of 40,000 fighters from the Syrian army and allied militias ready to be deployed in Ukraine, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said on Tuesday 15 March.
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An ally of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, Russia announced on March 11 that volunteers, including those from Syria, were welcome to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine, a country invaded by Moscow on March 24 February. The OSDH, which has an extensive network of sources in Syria, assures that Russian officers, in coordination with the Syrian army and allied militias, have opened registration offices in areas held by the Damascus regime. .
Russian officers, deployed in Syria as part of Moscow’s military intervention in 2015 to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad, have at this stage approved the application of 22,000 Syrians, according to the director of the NGO, Rami Abdel Rahmane. These fighters come either from units of the regular Syrian army or from pro-regime militias trained by the Russians with experience of fighting in urban areas, according to the same source.
Financial incentives
In a country where soldiers earn 13 to 32 euros per month, Russia promises them a salary of 1,000 euros to fight in Ukraine, says the Observatory. They are also entitled to 7,000 euros in compensation for injuries, while their families will receive 15,000 euros if they were to die in combat, according to the NGO.
Some 18,000 additional men have registered with Syria’s ruling Ba’ath Party and will be selected by the Wagner Group, a private Russian paramilitary company with ties to the Kremlin, the OSDH said.
A representative of the Syrian government denied the existence of this recruitment campaign. “So far, no names have been listed, no soldiers are registered and no one has traveled to Russia to fight in Ukraine,” Omar Rahmoun, of the National Reconciliation Committee, told AFP.