QAMISHLI – Hundreds of Russian-trained Syrian fighters who have reportedly signed up to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine include Syrian soldiers, former opposition fighters and veteran fighters who fought for years against the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) in Syria.
Around 700 members of Brig. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan’s 25th Special Missions Forces Division, known in Syria as the “Tiger Force,” left Syria over the past weeks to fight along Russian forces, Rami Abdurrahman, Director of Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an opposition war monitor, reported.
So far about 40,000 people have registered their names to join the Russian army, he said earlier.
Analysts believe fighters from Syria are more likely to be deployed in coming weeks, especially after Russian president Putin named Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, “the butcher of Syria” who commanded the Russian military in Syria, as the new war commander in Ukraine, preparing for the next phase of the military action on Ukraine.
Dvornikov is well acquainted with the multiple paramilitary forces in Syria trained by Russia. He oversaw the strategy of “ruthlessly” besieging and bombarding opposition-held cities in Syria into submission.
“The Russians are looking for experienced fighters. They don’t want anyone who was not trained by the Russians,” Abdurrahman said.
In turn, Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who runs the DeirEzzor 24, said hundreds of fighters from the Syria’s 5th Division and the Quds Brigade have registered at Russia’s Hmeimim air base in western Syria, which is leading recruitment efforts, and are waiting for order.
