Syrian President Bashar Assad has promised to provide some 40,000 militants to the Russian Federation for the war in Ukraine, The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported on Thursday afternoon.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, weapons and other equipment will be transferred to Russia and Belarus from Syria in the near future, the statement reported, in addition to as many as 40,000 militants. A report on March 13 from Ukrainian intelligence indicated that Russia had already opened 14 recruitment centers across Syria, in Damascus, Aleppo, Hamma, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor, in order to strengthen its forces.
In addition, more than 30 fighters who had been wounded in battles against Ukrainian defenders have recently arrived at the Khmeimim military base from Russia. This had a negative impact on the morale and psychological condition of some Syrians, leading to some of them recalling their applications.
There have even been cases where Syrian fighters would injure themselves to evade deployment. At the same time, some of the mercenaries see their deployment to Russia and Belarus as a chance to subsequently defect and flee to the EU.
As reported by Ukrinform, on March 16, an Adviser to the President’s Office, Oleksiy Arestovych, said that Russian appeals to Syria and Libya regarding the sending of mercenaries for the war in Ukraine remained unanswered for the time being.
