Vladimir Putin says he will use volunteers from the Middle East in Ukraine

Russia is ready to use volunteers from Middle Eastern countries in the invasion of Ukraine, especially in its operations in the Donbas region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

At a meeting of the Russian Security Council, Putin said, quoted by Russian agencies, that “there are people who want to come and help people who live in Donbas on a voluntary basis”, to which Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu , replied that there are already “sixteen thousand people from the Middle Eastern countries ready to help the people” of that Ukrainian territory.

Kremlin spokesman Dimiti Peskov, quoted by the agency Sputnikstated that most of the volunteers to participate in what Moscow describes as a “special operation” in Ukraine come from countries in the Middle East and Syria.

“We think it is right to respond favorably to these requests, especially since these requests are not to (earn) money,” the defense minister said. “We know many of them, they helped us in the fight against the Islamic State during the most difficult times, during the last ten years,” Shoigu concluded, quoted by the agency. TASS.

The Russian armed forces, both aviation and specialized army units, have played a major role in the war in Syria, in support of current President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria has been one of the very few countries that from the outset have openly supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

At the Russian Security Council meeting, Putin said, quoted by TASS, that there were Western countries that were “recruiting mercenaries” and that they “openly showed it, breaking all the norms of international law.” (I)