Russia is seeking Syrian fighters with urban combat experience to deploy to Ukraine as the Kremlin sets its sights on capturing the capital city of Kyiv.
Citing four unnamed U.S. officials, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that a U.S. assessment indicates Russia is recruiting Syrians with expertise in urban combat to fight in the war in Ukraine.
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The Pentagon and the Wall Street Journal report did not specify the number of Syrian reinforcements Moscow is seeking to bring into battle or when the fighters may be deployed to Ukraine, but they noted that some of the new Syrian recruits have already been brought to Russia and are preparing to enter the battlefield.
A Syrian news outlet reported last week that Russia was offering to pay salaries of $200 to $300 to Syrian fighters to operate “as guards” in Ukraine for six months.
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The Kremlin should already have a strong familiarity with the urban combat capabilities of Syrian warfighters. The Russian military has been assisting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army battle rebel opposition forces in the country’s civil war since 2015.
The addition of Syrian nationals to the war effort would bolster a Russian invasion force of roughly 170,000 troops, which has encountered stiff resistance from Ukrainian defense forces as it seeks to encircle and isolate Ukrainian cities. The Kremlin claims 498 Russian soldiers have been killed since the invasion began on Feb. 24, but Ukrainian officials on Sunday pegged the Russian death toll at 11,000.
On Meet the Press on Sunday, NBC correspondent Richard Engel reported that some of Russia’s special forces units “are furious because they have been sent into battle without proper support, and many of them have been killed.”
Roughly 95% of Russian troops who mustered along the Ukrainian border in Russia and Belarus are now inside Ukraine, according to the Pentagon.
Mercenaries from the Russian-backed Wagner Group and the Chechen Republic have also been fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine, according to reports. Ukrainian officials claim that forces from Russian ally Belarus have also crossed the border and entered the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, a claim denied by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
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The Ukrainian government has also welcomed foreign fighters to help defend the country. Roughly 16,000 foreigners have volunteered to join the Ukrainian military as part of an international legion, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Among them, more than 3,000 are from the United States, according to a report.
