Fri 11 March 2022:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia must allow volunteers who are willing to fight in Ukraine to take part in Moscow’s offensive, Reuters reports.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu proposed handing over American made anti-tank systems such as Javelin and Stinger to fighters from the rebel regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Putin, speaking at a Russian security council meeting, said he supported such an idea. He also said that those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russian-backed forces should be allowed to. Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East who were ready to come to fight with Russian-backed forces.
Hundreds of Syrian fighters recruited by Russia to fight in Libya over the last few years have been withdrawn from the nation and returned to Syria, according to a local Syrian opposition news outlet, Suwayda 24. It further stated that no additional fighters have been sent to Libya to replace the withdrawn forces.
Arriving back into the country via Russia’s Kheimim Airbase in western Syria since the beginning of this month, the final batch of fighters are reported to have landed on Saturday.
According to figures released by the Ukrainian government’s, those Russian losses have amounted to over 11,000 troops so far, with hundreds of Russian military vehicles also having been destroyed or captured. Dozens of military aircraft have also reportedly been shot down by Ukrainian forces.
To add to that, Russia has been hit hard economically by heavy sanctions imposed by western nations, making it surpass Iran as the world’s most sanctioned country. That could potentially mean that the Kremlin is attempting to cut back on extra costs, which would also include the maintenance of Syrian fighters in Libya, who were reportedly being paid $700 per month.
Russia is paying the Middle-Eastern country’s volunteers between $200 and $300 (£151 and £227) “to go to Ukraine and operate as guards” for six months at a time, according to a report from the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor.
Russia entered the Syrian civil war in 2015 on the side of regime leader Bashar al Assad. The country has been mired in a conflict marked by urban combat for more than a decade.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
