Beirut, Lebanon: Russia through the mercenary company the Wagner Group and supported Syrian fighter groups have been recruiting men to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, AL Jazeera News reported on Friday.
“Thousands across the war-torn country have reportedly expressed an interest in signing up,” the report said.
It added that one group, dubbed the ISIS Hunters, have made calls for recruitment at least twice over the past month. Those interested have to be between 23 and 43 years old, and must submit personal identification and documents that show they have military experience.
The report further disclosed that the ISIS Hunters would then let them know whether or not they have been recruited, and would summon them for deployment “at a later time when needed”.
“They are closely linked to the Wager Group, and even share an almost identical insignia.”
“Moscow is taking the lead with recruitment,” Omar Abu Layla, a Syrian activist based in Europe who runs Syrian media and monitoring group Deir EzZor 24, told Al Jazeera.
“If you see it as a hierarchal structure, you have Russia at the top, then the Wagner Group, then the National Defence Forces,” he explained, the latter being a network of private pro-government fighter groups.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in March that he would approve up to 16,000 fighters from the Middle East to deploy in Ukraine’s Donbas region to support Russian-backed rebel groups.
The US Pentagon said it has seen indicators that the Wagner Group has been recruiting fighters from Syria, Libya, and other countries with a goal to deploy “a thousand or so” in the eastern province.
Russian defense-ministry-owned Zvezda TV broadcast a video of Syrian men in military garb, waving Syrian and Russian flags, pledging to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
