The Russians offer Syrians "high-paying jobs" and then recruit and send them to the front to fight against Ukraine.
This is stated by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Mercenaries are being trained on Syrian territory near the city of Aleppo and Kuweires airfield. Almost a thousand of the first mercenaries are trained with an emphasis on conducting combat operations in urban areas. After that, they will be sent to the Khmeimim air base, and from there to the Russian Federation.
In Russia, they are issued with Russian passports, and then mobilized into the occupation army. The video shows some Syrians with Russian passports made in five days, according to intelligence.
Men are recruited in Syria through travel agencies — first they are promised jobs as security guards at oil refineries in Yakutia, and then they lure them to a "higher-paying" job in Buryatia.
In the Buryat capital of Ulan-Ude, the mercenaries are expected to be mobilized into the 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade of the Soviet Union and further participate in hostilities in Ukraine.
- This is not the first time that Russia involves foreigners in the war with Ukraine through deception — for example, by offering work. Such cases became more frequent at the end of last year. Then Russia, in particular, took advantage ofthe migration crisis on the border with Finland and began to recruit to its army foreigners detained while clearing the Finnish border. In pretrial detention centers, they were handed documents in Russian, which they did not understand, allegedly with an offer to earn extra money. Fearing deportation, many signed the offer, after which they were sent to fight in Ukraine.
- Russia also recruited Nepali citizens for the war. According to the countryʼs government, 200 Nepalese joined the Russian army. They are involved in the war. Six Nepalese have already died, and one was captured by the Ukrainians.
- A citizen of Somalia was also captured by the Armed Forces. He directly said that he was a mercenary.