Putin to Bring Thousands of Arab Fighters to Ukraine
Reuters: “Putin gave the green light on Friday for up to 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East.”
President Vladimir Putin is planning to being thousands of Arab mercenaries to Ukraine as invading Russian forces remain bogged down and fail to take even a single Ukrainian city after seventeen days of fighting. “Putin approves bringing ‘volunteer’ fighters from the Middle East and elsewhere to join Russia’s Ukraine offensive,” The Associated Press reported Friday.
Russia plans to recruit around 16,000 foreign fighters to boost the ranks of existing Russian invasion force of 190,000, news reports say. Thousands of Chechen Muslim fighters are already accompanying the Russian grounds force.
The news comes as Russians suffer heavy losses since the invasion began more than two weeks ago. Ukrainian forces have reportedly killed three Russian generals so far. Between 3,500 to 6,000 invading Russian soldiers may also have died in the fighting, U.S. officials estimate.
The Reuters reported Moscow’s changing tactics:
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the green light on Friday for up to 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East to be deployed alongside Russian-backed rebels to fight in Ukraine, doubling down an invasion that the West says has been losing momentum.
The move, just over two weeks since Putin ordered the invasion, allows Russia to deploy battle-hardened mercenaries from conflicts such as Syria without risking additional Russian military casualties. read more
At a meeting of Russia’s Security Council, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East who were ready to come to fight alongside Russian-backed forces in the breakaway Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.
The move, just over two weeks since Putin ordered the invasion, allows Russia to deploy battle-hardened mercenaries from conflicts such as Syria without risking additional Russian military casualties.
“If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbass, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Putin said from the Kremlin.
The decision suggests that President Putin has given up his earlier hopes of a quick victory, and plans to wage a long and drawn-out battle for control of Ukraine. The Arab mercenaries, largely recruited from Syria, are being sought by Russia for their experience in urban combat witnessed during the country’s decade-long bloody civil war.
Kyiv Burns as Putin Expands Offensive
Latest satellite images show fires blazing across the residents areas of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The Russian forces are only 15 miles from the city center, and are pounding the city’s residents with artillery barrages.
According to the UK Defense Ministry, Russians are preparing to encirclement of the capital. “Sirens and explosions have been heard in many other cities across Ukraine, as Russian troops try to encircle key targets,” the BBC reported on Saturday.
UK’s Sky News reported situation in Kyiv:
The satellite images from Maxar appear to suggest that Russian military units are “actively firing artillery towards residential areas” – and in one photograph, a bright muzzle flash can be seen from an artillery gun.
Widespread damage and impact craters have been seen in Moschun, a town northwest of Kyiv, and fires are continuing to burn at Hostomel Airport, which is also known as Antonov Airport. (…)
A 40-mile (64km) line of tanks and other vehicles had amassed outside Kyiv early last week – but progress by Russian troops appeared to have stalled amid reports of food and fuel shortages, muddy roads, and attacks by Ukrainian troops using anti-tank missiles.
Other cities in east and south of the country suffer a similar fate. “The besieged cities of Kharkiv, Mariupol, Mykolaiv and Sumy have been enduring relentless shelling as well as freezing temperatures, with no power and little food or water,” the BBC noted.
The Russian military is also intensifying its attack in the western part of Ukraine. “Russian forces expanded their offensive in Ukraine on Friday as they conducted airstrikes in new areas in the country’s west,” public broadcaster France24 reported. “Ukrainian authorities said Russian airstrikes hit in the western cities of Ivano-Frankiivsk and Lutsk — far from Russia’s main targets elsewhere in the country.”
Russia Threatens U.S. and European Arms Shipment
Russia has declared that U.S. and Western weapons shipments destined for Ukraine are a legitimate military targets. Moscow “warned the U.S. that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isn’t just a dangerous move, it’s an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday.
The Russian threat comes as the European Union indicated that it has raised the military assistance to Ukraine by $500 million. This will be in addition to $500 million in defense equipment the 27-member European bloc agreed to give Kyiv last week, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell suggested on Saturday.
The U.S. and European allies have replenished Ukrainian military supplies since the beginning of the invasion. “The US and its NATO allies have so far sent 17,000 anti-tank missiles and 2,000 stinger anti-aircraft missiles to support Ukraine in its war against Russia,” Sky News UK reported.
Putin’s Ally China Getting Cold Feet
With Russian forces failing to make headway, China appears to be getting cold feet over its support for Putin’s reckless military offensive.
On Friday, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang called for a ‘cease fire’ in Ukraine. “Li Keqiang says the situation is worrying and must be stopped from spiralling out of control,” The South China Daily Mail newspaper reported.
Since the hostilities began in Ukraine, China has been Putin’s strongest backer on the world stage. Beijing has refused to recognize the latest U.S. and Western sanctions on Russia, and continues to blame Washington for the Russian aggression.
Less than a month ahead of the Ukraine offensive, President Xi Jinping declared there was “no limits” to China’s relations with Russia. In November, Russia and China agreed to a “road map” for defense cooperation by 2026, creating a de facto military alliance against U.S. and its allies.
China is heavily censoring domestic media coverage and social media postings related to the Ukraine invasion. The Chinese internet regulator, Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has placed a blanket ban on anti-Russian coverage, instructing “commercial websites, local and self-published media” not to “conduct livestreams or use hashtags” on Ukraine, the BBC reported Saturday.
But now China seems to be feeling the heat for its support for Putin’s adventure. Apart from rising oil and gas prices, Beijing is worried about the its food security. “Ukraine and Russia account for about 30 per cent of the world’s traded wheat,” UK’s Financial Times noted.
China and other Asian counties heavily depend on grain supplies from Russia and Ukraine. “Asian economies … are being hit with food shortages as shipments are cancelled and delivery routes upended” by the Putin’s invasion, The South China Morning Post noted last week.
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Comments
I’m having a hard time finding good world leaders today. Seems like the current lot leaves a lot to be desired. Count me and my tax dollars out of all new global conflicts. I’ll let my Congress critters know so they can ignore me even more.
Viktor Orban
Maybe he wouldn’t be considered a world leader given the size of his country. But it cannot be denied he leads his country. He resists the forces of the EU and the UN (which essentially are the same thing), and the forces of Islam.
I agree. 100% a patriot.
“I’m having a hard time finding good world leaders today.”
That’s because they run governments.
And governments are nothing anymore but mafias with flags.
Didn’t the Romans ultimately use non-natives for their fighting forces? Maybe effective in the short term, but long term not a good harbinger.
P
About 30,000 Hessians were hired by the British to fight against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Didn’t work out that well.
Well… half stayed and settled in America. If you can’t beat ’em..join ’em.
I think that we all know, if Putin gets away with this that there will be more of the same in the near future. One way or another, he needs to be made really sorry. Russia should be forced to pay for this. While there is no doubt propaganda on both sides, there is no reasonable explanation for the invasion.
What do you call the sanctions exactly?
There are no non-economic possibilities, to quote a 20th century leader of Russia responding to Mao’s saber rattling “yes but the United States is a paper tiger with NUCLEAR ARMED TEETH” (caps added for emphasis not yelling).
There is a fog of war in Ukraine and I am skeptical of news about how well the Ukrainians are doing, but lets not forget how many times Russia could blow up planet earth.
All those Arab terrorists should be summerly executed.
How about the one’s in Congress?
If someone said something even remotely similar to what you just said about Russian servicemen being summarily executed you would be shouting bloody murder. Knock it of phony internet tough guy.
Russian servicemen invading Ukraine are vassals and conscripts of Putin.
Arabs coming into the Ukraine to make violence against it are terrorists, and terrorists should not be given no quarter.
BY THE WAY: thousands and thousands of potential terrorists have been flooded by Biden-Obama into our Southern border – and they’re still coming.
Wait till they start killing.
If you believe a single thing you just wrote there congratulations you are an idiot.
The moment a Syrian joins the Russian military he is a Russian soldier worthy of and entitled to all of the protections thereof including the protections of the Geneva convention concerning prisoners of war.
Arabs enlisting in Russia’s armed forces are Russian soldiers as much as a conscript from Moscow.
By the way does your idea that you can’t recruit foreigners into your army apply to foreigners who enlisted in Ukraine’s foreign legion or to the foreigners who fought for the British Armed forces in world war two (i.e. Americans who wanted to stop Hitler) or is it selective and only apply to Syrians enlisting in the Russian armed forces.?
I think your better than the idiot you are pretending to be, and you know you are dead wrong.
Danny’s a marxist nut.
“The moment a Syrian joins the Russian military he is a Russian soldier…”
What they are, are mercenary’s. And thus ends your pathetic argument.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Arab Spring immigrates and seeks safe sanctuary in the Slavic Spring. #MeToo #ThemToo #WhyNot #NetZeroEffect
A similar counterbalance of forces existed in South Africa, with a conflict between Mandela’s Zhosa andd their Zulu tribal competitors, which prompted the conception of an apartheid regime to mitigate their progress and catastrophic anthropogenic climate change. So, which native population will emerge viable: the eastern with Russian backing or western with American backing? In 2014, democracy died, but not in darkness.
So, all these “Fighters” want to go to paradise? I’m sure the Ukrainians are more than happy to arrange the trip.
I also understand that as mercs, they have no Geneva Convention protections and the Ukrainians can summarily execute them if they choose.
You have zero understanding of the Geneva convention if you think foreign birth places people outside of the protections of the army they are fighting in.
The minute a Syrian volunteers to be a Russian soldier he is a Russian soldier no ifs ands or buts.
If any of them are summarily executed that would be a war crime as if say the Russians summarily executed captured Ukrainian servicemen.
More incorrect bullshit from the marxist nut.
Look up mercenary you common idiot. Then report back here what the definition is.
Ok you fascist nazi (hey you call me a marxist baselessly I get to insult you baselessly to or do you feel it is a one way street?) you didn’t bother to address my point which is the minute a soldier enlists in the Russian Army he is a Russian soldier.
I am sorry you are bloody minded asshole. Until you are ready to announce that it would have been lawful for Germany to summarily execute every French Foreign Legion soldier in the two world wars your opinion that Russian servicemen not from Russia aren’t a protected class under the Geneva conventions are worthless.
Well, marxist danny, you obviously have difficulty reading. No surprise.
“especially : a soldier hired into foreign service”
Not only are you a marxist, you’re too stupid to play in the LI league.
Alright so every American soldier who fought for Britain in British Uniform could have been lawfully executed by Germany, every Frenchman in British service (i.e. the Free French) could have been executed….or alternatively a place called planet Earth a location where once you are an enlisted man in an army you are entitled to all of the protections thereof is right and your an asshole and bloody little idiot who I am overjoyed is relegated to such an extreme fringe that I don’t think anyone would ever associate with you if they knew you favored mass executions based on ethnic origin of captured servicemen. Nobody with any authority in Ukraine or anywhere else shares your view that a Syrian who enlists in the Russian Army isn’t entitled to the same protections as an ethnic Russian in exactly the same army.
Go ahead write your crazed nonsense to a senator if you get a response it will be along the lines of “go to hell we don’t believe in mass executions of soldiers based on their ethnic background in the United States”.
Not quite. All prisoners are presumed to be lawful combatants and protected until a tribunal has determined they are not lawful combatants. Summarily killing any prisoners is itself a violation.
How will he logistically support these fighters when he can’t supply his own troops?
They travel light, except for their killer camels:
https://nypost.com/2022/03/12/tennessee-petting-zoo-camel-kills-two-men-bobby-matheny-tommy-gunn-after-escape/
I spent a few tours in Iraq and every time, was warned that you never want to fuck with the camels. But honestly, I always laughed about it….until now. Camels need to be put on ‘Affable Murderous Animals List’ right after Hippos and Moose.
A former US Army officer I knew was tasked with guiding a group of officers from certain Arab countries during their visit to the USA. He recalls that the experience cause his respect for the Israeli military to fall considerably.
Those Arab members of Arab militaries didn’t spend a day in American uniform. If properly trained by a professional military they wouldn’t have been embarrassing (although there are militaries with worst reputations than Arab ones i.e. the Mexican military).
Of course how well Russia could train Syrian recruits in a short period of time is questionable.
I think these are battle trained from combat in Syria. They will hit the ground running… unlike conscripts.
You could be right but Kepha isn’t unreasonably pointing out the reputation Arab (including Syrian) armies have for incompetence. If the intention is to use them immediately the Russians are gambling that they know what to do beyond the level of an individual company.
This is the surest sign yet that Putin’s little expedition isn’t playing well in the motherland.
The minute a Syrian volunteers to be a Russian soldier he is a Russian soldier no ifs ands or buts.
__________________________________________________________________
you’re dreaming if you think hired guns are bound/protected by the gc
So that unlawful standard that foreign volunteers in your army it apply to the FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION, the UKRAINIAN FOREIGN LEGION or formations of foreign volunteers for another nations army around the world?
arabs have a beef with the askenazi too.
Has what to do with Syrians enlisting in the Russian Army exactly?
To address the above argument over if foreign recruits in an army are unlawful combatants and if a general massacre is permissible without being a war crime I will allow the French government to answer it
https://french-foreign-legion.com/
“THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION
WHAT IS THE FOREIGN LEGION?
As an integral part of the French army, the French Foreign Legion is a professional fighting unit using the same equipment and with the same missions as any other infantry, tank, or engineer unit of the French army. They are volunteers of any nationality, race or creed, always ready to serve France.
Men of action and elite soldiers with a young and dynamic spirit, they are capable of doing their duty anywhere anytime.”
Now for some more interesting things
“MISCELLANEOUS
After three years of service, a legionnaire can ask for the French nationality and may also be entitled to a French resident permit if he has obtained a certificate of satisfactory military service. The resident permit is valid for ten years and is renewable.
At the end of his career the legionnaire is assisted in his return to civilian life.”
You aren’t even required to move to France, or be French!!!!
The International Law is very clearly not on the side of executing foreign born servicemen.
Not that I’m expecting 16k Russian servicemen captured in short order but at issue is some people on my side here being cheerleaders of war crime and that is a problem. We have no control over Russia, we do have control over ourselves and could stop voicing dangerous extremist views.