Vladimir Putin is set to unleash 16,000 fighters from the Middle East, who are waiting to join the invasion of Ukraine. Syria’s military is beginning to recruit troops to fight alongside Russian forces as thousands of volunteers are set to join the battle.

Speaking at a Russian security council meeting, Putin said those people in the Middle East who want to sign up to fight for him should be allowed to do so. And Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces.

Putin told his defense minister: “If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “thugs from Syria” would be coming to kill people “in a foreign land” in a video response as Putin’s war effort attempts to escalate.

Even for a military worn down by a decade of war at home, the offer of such a salary will probably prove to be a significant enticement for forces loyal to Assad, who have clawed back control of close to two-thirds of Syria, largely thanks to Russian air cover and the widespread use of Iranian mercenaries on the ground.

Putin had earlier denied that Syrian troops would be paid. “If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zones,” he said.

The Russian president claimed his welcoming of foreign forces came after an influx of foreign fighters to Ukraine, which he said were encouraged to travel there by the west. The increasing flow of foreigners raises the spectre of the war becoming a regional conflict – something European states and the US have been trying to avoid by keeping state armies garrisoned.

One such notice addressed to ”the men of the 4th Division security office’, offers an “employee contract for immediate enlistment and in addition to seeking basic details, provides a job description that includes “military raids, operations abroad and travel to Ukraine, with all provided. Salary is up to $3,000 depending on experience.”