After pulling in North Koreans, Russia is reportedly recruiting Yemeni mercenaries to fight in its war against Ukraine, the British newspaper Financial Times reported Sunday.
The Russian military, backed by Yemen’s Houthi Islamic terror group, “recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine,” the business daily wrote, citing U.S. officials.
The news comes as President Vladimir Putin seeks to strengthen his bargaining position before U.S. President Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
Russia is increasingly relying on foreign fighters and mercenaries as the war in Ukraine intensifies. According to the U.S. Defense Department, “11,000 to 12,000 North Korean troops” were currently deployed in Russia’s Kurks region, which was invaded by the Ukrainian military in early August in a bid to ease the pressure on its forces facing a Russian offensive in the country’s eastern Donbas region.
The Financial Times reported:
Russia’s armed forces have recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine, brought by a shadowy trafficking operation that highlights the growing links between Moscow and the Houthi rebel group.Yemeni recruits who travelled to Russia told the Financial Times they were promised high salaried employment and even Russian citizenship. When they arrived with the help of a Houthi-linked company, they were then forcibly inducted into the Russian army and sent to the front lines in Ukraine. (…)The Yemeni recruitment effort also underscores how Russia, driven by its confrontation with the west, is growing closer to Iran and allied militant groups in the Middle East. The Houthis, a militant group backed by Tehran, disrupted global supply chains with a missile campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea after the start of the war in Gaza last year.US diplomats say the entente between the Kremlin and the Houthis, unimaginable before the war in Ukraine, is a sign of how far Russia is willing to go to extend that conflict into new theatres including the Middle East.US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking confirmed Russia is actively pursuing contacts with the Houthis and discussing weapons transfers, though he declined to be more specific.“We know that there are Russian personnel in Sana’a helping to deepen this dialogue,” he said. “The kinds of weapons that are being discussed are very alarming, and would enable the Houthis to better target ships in the Red Sea and possibly beyond.”Contracts signed by the Yemenis, seen by the FT, listed a company founded by Abdulwali Abdo Hassan al-Jabri, a prominent Houthi politician. (…)The recruitment of Yemeni soldiers appears to have begun as early as July. One enlistment contract seen by the FT was dated July 3, and was countersigned by the head of a selection centre for contract soldiers in the city of Nizhnii Novgorod.
Russia’s forces appear to be advancing at a rapid pace in eastern Ukraine, making their most significant territorial gains in more than two years.
“Russian forces are advancing in Ukraine at the fastest rate since the early days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month,” Reuters reported Tuesday, citing military analysts. “The Russian army captured almost 235 sq km (91 sq miles) in Ukraine over the past week, a weekly record for 2024,” the news agency said, quoting Russian sources.
The Financial Times noted that the recruiting of fighters exposes “the growing links between Moscow and the Houthi” Islamic terrorist group.
Iran-sponsored Houthis declared war on Israel in the wake of the October 7 massacre. Since October 2023, the Houthis have fired hundreds of drones and rockets at Israel. They have been targeting Western-owned cargo vessels in the Red Sea in a bid to impose an illegal shipping embargo on Israel.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY