The Kremlin indicated this Friday that Syrian citizens will be authorized to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine, after the president Vladimir Putin support the idea of having volunteers from other countries on the battlefield.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu “said, above all, that the majority of those who want and have asked (to go to fight) are citizens of Middle Eastern countries, they are Syrians,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov specified.
Russia has provided considerable military support to the Syrian regime since the fall of 2015, supporting its forces against both rebels and terrorists. jihadistsde facto saving the power of Bashar al-Assadwhich already controls most of Syria.
For the Kremlin, sending foreign fighters to Ukraine is justified because, according to Moscow, Western countries are facilitating the arrival of “mercenaries” to support Ukraine, where Russia launched a military offensive on February 24.
“If the western world is so enthusiastic about the idea of diverse and varied mercenaries coming, then why [nuestra] part we also have volunteers who want to participate,” said Peskov.
According to him, it is not about sending Russian volunteer fighters.
Previously, this Friday, President Putin had ordered to facilitate the sending of “volunteer” fighters to Ukraine in response to the deployment of “mercenaries” that, according to him, would be carried out by Western countries.
“If you see people who want to go voluntarily, and not for money, to help people living in Donbas (eastern Ukraine), you have to approach them and make it easier for them to get to the combat zone,” Putin said. , responding to a proposal from his defense minister.
According to him, this is justified because “the Western partners of the Ukrainian regime do not even hide” and openly gather “mercenaries from all over the world to send them to Ukraine.”
Ukraine announced the creation of a legion of foreign volunteers integrated into its armed forces to fight the Russian military on its territory.