Moscow seeking to hire Syrian mercenaries for its war against Ukraine

Russia has poured almost the entirety of the forces it had arrayed along the border with Ukraine into the invasion, but after nearly two weeks of inconclusive fighting, the Kremlin is being forced to look outside the country for fresh troops.

Russia wants to recruit Syrian mercenaries experienced in street fighting to take part in future urban battles in cities such as Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. 

Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is backed by Russia, have been waging a fierce urban campaign for nearly a decade, giving them the kind of skill set prized by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Monday, a senior Defense Department official said military officials in the Pentagon believe the reports are accurate.

“We find it noteworthy that he believes that he needs to rely on foreign fighters to supplement what is a very significant commitment of combat power inside Ukraine as it is,” the official told reporters. “We don’t know how many nor how good they are.”

Defense officials said Russia was recruiting foreign fighters even as it began a third round of talks with Ukrainian negotiators. One of the talks’ expected main topics is the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to evacuate Ukrainian cities that have come under shelling by Russian troops.

Ukrainian officials accuse Moscow of attempting to manipulate negotiators by pressing for any civilian evacuation route to pass through Russia. 

“These are citizens of Ukraine. They should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” a spokesman for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, according to a report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

After nearly two weeks of fighting, Russia has yet to make any significant progress on the ground. The Defense Department official said Moscow’s plan to hire foreign fighters could be a byproduct of its problems on the ground in Ukraine.

“The Ukrainians are putting up a very stiff resistance,” the official said. “But [Mr. Putin] has an awful lot of combat power available to him, and he has it in numbers that are superior to the numbers the Ukrainians have arrayed against him.”