Russia and Ukraine recruit foreign fighters, reports say

The war launched by Russia against Ukraine on February 24, is continuing.

Both sides are reported to have begun to use “foreign soldiers”.

Russia has recently started to recruit Syrians skilled in urban combat to fight in Ukraine, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing American officials.

Since 2015, Russia has directly intervened in the war in Syria and taken sides with the Bashar al-Assad government.

An American official claimed that some Syrian fighters had reached Russia and were preparing to join the war in Ukraine. The US official did not provide any further details.

Both warring factions have recruited foreign fighters in the ongoing clashes. Former rebel of Chechnya, Ramazan Kadyrov, who has formed an alliance with the Kremlin, shared images of Chechen fighters going to Ukraine and announced that some of them died in clashes.

There are tens of thousands of people volunteering in the war alongside the Ukrainian government. Western media outlets designate them as “voluntary fighters”. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kubela revealed that nearly 20,000 foreign volunteers have signed up to fight on behalf of Ukraine.

On the 12th day of the war, bombings and clashes are continuing on the ground. The capital, Kyiv, and the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, are still controlled by Ukrainian forces.

Russia has already captured the strategic port city of Kherson as it is intensifying its shelling of urban areas across the country.

According to the United Nations, more than 1.5 million people have fled to neighbouring countries since the beginning of the war.