US Department of Defense confirmed that Russia was recruiting Syrians to fight in Ukraine. 

“We do believe that the accounts of them — the Russians — seeking Syrian fighters to augment their forces in Ukraine, we believe there’s truth to that,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told journalists on Monday.

“It’s interesting that Mr. Putin would have to find himself relying on foreign fighters here,” Kirby said. Kirby added the disclaimer that the Pentagon does not have “perfect visibility” on precisely who was joining the cause.

Earlier Monday, a senior defense official told reporters from the Wall Street Journal, “We know that they’re trying to recruit Syrians for the fight.” The official added that some Syrian fighters are already training in Russia.

Russia has maintained a military presence in Syria since 2015 to prop up the regime of President Bashar al Assad, who has been fighting a civil war since 2011. 

Syrian media claimed that Russia had recruited between 2,500 and 4,000 pro-Assad Syrian mercenaries to fight in Ukraine, paying them $700 per month. The pay scale will increase to $1200 if they fight in Ukraine. According to the report in Daraa 24, members of the Fourth and Fifth Corps and the “Suhail al-Hassan” forces were taken for retraining at the T-4 military airbase before being sent to a base in Rostov, Russia. Russia utilized Syrian mercenaries in its fighting in Libya. The report conjectured that the Syrian fighters would be especially effective as “they will not show hesitation in the battles they are fighting because they differ from them [Ukrainians] ethnically and religiously.

Russia has not commented on the reports.

Muslim Chechen fighters have played an active role in fighting for Russia. A report in RT claimed 12,000 Chechen special forces fighters, referred to as “Kadyrovites,” deployed to Ukraine. Chechnya,  a mainly Muslim region in southern Russia, is a constituent republic. Chechen troops have fought alongside the Russians in Syria and Georgia.

Russian media outlets have been tapping into the reputation of Chechen fighters for brutality and religiously fueled fanaticism. A viral video showed hundreds of Chechen soldiers praying in the forest before the battle.  Russian security services released   Chechen “hunters” photos of their intended targets.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has claimed that around 20,000 foreign volunteers have traveled to join Kyiv’s forces.

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