President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian defence minister to facilitate the enlistment and deployment of foreign "volunteer fighters" on the Ukrainian front. Thus, the Kremlin leader responds to the West, which is accused by Moscow of sending "mercenaries" to the battlefield. In fact, on both sides of the Ukrainian front, various foreign fighters have appeared in recent days, motivated by a variety of motives.
Recently, the Russian minister of defence, Sergey Shoigu, had stated that 16,000 fighters from the Middle East are ready to help Russian forces. Kyiv's reaction was immediate, as president Volodymyr Zelensky said that "Russia is hiring Syrian assassins to destroy Ukraine".
The Kremlin leader's strategy actually has a double purpose and two justifications:
On the one hand, it seeks to thicken the ranks of the military on the Ukrainian front, where the Russian army seems to be facing some difficulties. In fact, Putin also called for the deployment of the military in the territory at the western border of the country, a response to the deployment of NATO troops in various Eastern European states, including Romania.
On the other hand, Putin's call for foreign fighters is a response to the formation of a legion of foreign volunteers from Ukraine, Poland but also from other countries in the region such as the Baltic countries. Mobile troops have been seen in the past, moving from one theatre of operations to another, from Syria to Libya, from Libya to Chad and vice versa, from the Middle East to Nagorno-Karabakh, via Turkey. So there is a reserve of fighters who have little to do in these times and who are willing to be sent to Ukraine.
In reference to the issue, the Western media notes that, since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the recruitment of foreign fighters eager to support both Ukrainians and Russians has accelerated. All opportunities are open to those with little experience in combat. Also, so-called "security" companies have started posting ads on social networks to attract potential candidates. On the Ukrainian side, foreign embassies around the world have called for volunteers, prompting diplomatic incidents with Senegal and Algeria.
In the case of Syrians, the rebels seem to be more attracted to the Ukrainian side while the former soldiers of Bashar al-Assad's army enlist on the Russian side.
The British daily "The Times" recently claimed that African mercenaries had been sent to Kyiv by the famous Wagner group in order to liquidate Ukrainian leaders. Chechen fighters known as "Kadyrovsky" after their president, Ramzan Kadyrov, a former rebel ally of the Russians, are also heading for Kyiv. Instead, those who opposed the Russians during the wars in Chechnya and then fought alongside Islamic State jihadists, are now enlisting on the Ukrainian side.