Russian President Vladimir Putin has teamed up with Syrian barrel bomb experts to help with his offensive in Ukraine, according to a Sunday report.
European intelligence officials believe more than 50 Syrian bomb specialists have been in Russia for weeks working with the Russian military, according to the Guardian. Their presence in Russia led to warnings from Western officials that Russia may use chemical weapons in Ukraine, according to the report. However, Ukraine’s air defense capabilities have prevented the same sort of aerial bombing campaigns in Ukraine that plagued Syrians during the country’s civil war.
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“This is probably why we haven’t seen them cross the border,” an unnamed European official said. “We know the capacity is there, but if they use it, they lose. We will know who’s done it, and they will likely be killed anyway.”
Barrel bombs are crude bombs made of metal drums packed with shrapnel and explosive material. Their widespread use in Syria devastated the landscape, reducing entire cities to rubble. During the Syrian civil war, nearly 82,000 barrel bombs were dropped from helicopters, killing over 11,000 civilians, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, a nongovernmental human rights watchdog.
Unlike the Ukrainian military, Syrian rebels lacked significant anti-aircraft capabilities, leaving them vulnerable to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s helicopters and bombs.
In its latest update, the Ukrainian military claimed it has taken out 170 helicopters, 204 airplanes, and 476 drones since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.
Russia has primarily bombarded Ukrainian cities with artillery and cruise missiles, launching over 1,300 missiles in Ukraine since the start of the war, according to Ukraine’s deputy defense minister.
Putin has reportedly looked to Syria and other countries throughout the war to bolster his forces in Ukraine.
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A report last month indicated that as many as 20,000 Syrian and Libyan nationals, recruited by the Wagner Group, a Russian-backed private military company, are involved in Russia’s Donbas offensive.
In March, the Pentagon confirmed a report that Russia was seeking to recruit Syrian fighters with urban warfare experience to send to Ukraine.
