Syrians join Russian ranks in Ukraine as Putin calls in Assad’s debt
Analysis: Safe in his palace, Syrian leader appears to have given Moscow carte blanche to airlift his army
After 11 years of war, the destruction of towns, cities and much of the Syrian military, Bashar al-Assad's army has launched a recruitment drive. But the recruits are not fresh from bootcamps and will not fight on the home front. They are the vanguard of what could be the biggest state-backed mercenary force in the world. Within days, Syrian troops could be deployed to reinforce the stalled Russian frontlines in Ukraine, where Vladimir Putin is about to extract a lethal price for Moscow's rescue of the Syrian leader.
The first Syrian troops to join Putin's ranks - an advance force of 150 - arrived in Russia on Thursday, European intelligence officials claim. Ukrainian military intelligence, echoing a claim by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, believes 40,000 Syrians have signed up to fight - a figure that would represent a sizeable chunk of the battle-ready capacity of the country's entire military.
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