In the near future, foreigners may become participants in the Russian operation in Ukraine – and first of all, apparently, volunteers from Syria. How serious a military force can these people represent, what kind of tasks will they perform - and how will they be delivered to the combat area?
Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with members of the Security Council supported the idea of sending foreign volunteers to participate in a special operation in Ukraine. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that many applications have already been received, and most of all from the Middle East – 16 thousand people.
"We receive a huge number of applications from various kinds of volunteers from different countries who would like to come to the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics in order to participate in what they believe is a liberation movement," Shoigu said.
The President supported this proposal, noting that "Western sponsors of Ukraine" are already sending mercenaries to the war zone, and they are doing it openly, "disregarding all norms of international law." "Therefore, if you see that there are people who want to come on a voluntary basis, especially not for money, and help people living in Donbass– well, we need to meet them halfway and help them move to the war zone," Vladimir Putin said.
In the history of modern Russia, there has never been a case of involving foreign citizens in military operations, albeit on a voluntary basis. However, if you read the words of the president, it can be assumed that foreigners will fight not as part of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, but in the structure of the militia of the DPR and the People's Militia of the LPR. But even in this case, the young republics will have to hastily amend some of their laws and articles of the Criminal Code.
Volunteers from different countries, dominated by Serbs and leftists, fought in the Donbass before. Many of them were persecuted in their historical homeland after 2015. The Spaniards and Italians were treated especially harshly, since phantom pains have been strong in these EU countries since the 1970s, when the leftist (Trotskyist, Maoist) youth movement really posed a threat to public safety. And the Spaniards are additionally complexed because of the widely interpreted "separatism" (the Donbass in Madrid is on a par with the Basque Country and Catalonia).
Some have taken root in the Donbass. But in general, these were personal impulses of the soul, there was no organized system for attracting foreign volunteers. It could not have been, because it was a matter of ideology, not money.
They left Ossetia for Donbass in a relatively organized manner, and the Pyatnashka battalion with Ahra Avidzba at its head was the main "Inter-Brigade" at all, in which the Serbian sniper Deyan Berich, better known as Deki, performed the system function. Among other things, the Soundboard hails from the settlement of Putintsy (that's just what it's called, the stress is only on the second syllable!) in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, which added charm to the already charismatic Serb.
Now Sergei Shoigu has directly pointed to the Middle East, that is, with a high probability to Syria. The specialized Syrian military units created over several years of the civil war, trained and coached by Russian instructors, are idle. Several brigades of the modern system, formed not only from Alawites, but also from Sunnis, Shiites and Christians, represent a very formidable force. They are focused on tactical offensive operations and have extensive combat experience.
The ideological training there is at its height, and if it is clearly explained to them that Bandera is such an Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, only without a beard, then they will understand the meaning of what is happening. 16 thousand personnel are three full-fledged divisions, which is comparable to the People's Militia of the LPR.
There is evidence that representatives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation are in contact with the Syrian military enlistment offices, where volunteers apply. President Putin instructed to work out the possibility of delivering these people to Donbass, which means there is a question of logistics.
Turkey, as you know, temporarily closed the straits for military vessels, but no one prevents them from bringing them on a regular container ship under the Panamanian flag. This is called in the maritime language bareboat charter - chartering a vessel without a crew and even without filling the ship's role. During the Caribbean crisis, whole divisions were sent to Cuba in this way. By the way, if there is no legal desire to accept Syrians on the territory of Russia (you will get tired of issuing work visas to them in such numbers), then Mariupol will soon fall. And there is a huge industrial port. And you don't need a visa.
The alternative is military transport aviation, which will easily get a corridor through Turkey. Ankara is objectively interested in reducing the Syrian government forces, even if only temporarily.
Of course, this decision has not so much practical as ideological significance. Western countries have openly started sending mercenaries to Ukraine, and Zelensky, together with the Rada, promptly corrected their legislation, which is now as friendly as possible to such tourists with weapons. Reports are constantly coming from Poland and Lithuania about the alleged sending of almost thousands of mercenaries to Ukraine.
And their logistics are much more complicated than in Syria. These fighters with Russia will still get to Lviv, but getting directly to the front is already a problem. They will not be able to really help the encircled Ukrainian units in the Donbass for sure, not to mention the fact that Kiev has already actually written off several large groups, leaving them without control and communication. Mariupol is left to itself, and the allegedly counterattacking group in the Kharkiv region has been defeated.
There is a complex international term: "internationalization of conflict". Usually in history, this meant involving neighboring and other countries in hostilities. But in practice, this complexity can be circumvented through purely legal actions. After all, we are not talking about involving regular troops of another state (the same Syria) in military operations. This is an initiative of individuals who come to the military registration offices at the place of residence with their own feet and sign the relevant papers. The office of the military attache in Damascus can monitor this when receiving the relevant papers from Donetsk and Lugansk, which are now recognized, and therefore are subjects of international law.
A separate question is how much Middle Eastern volunteers are really needed for the success of the Ukrainian operation? After a rapid advance, the front in the DPR and LPR changed its configuration. Now significant forces have to be sent to the boilers: the encircled Ukrainian groups must either be forced to surrender or destroyed.
But the forces of the people's republics are not rubber. Further progress may lose pace if you do not feed it with fresh parts. Communication is also lengthening. For example, the bridges across the Seversky Donets in the LPR have all been blown up. So there is a need for people, not to mention the need to keep reserves. So, if the unnamed residents of the Middle East have a keen desire to help Russia, which has recently helped them a lot, then welcome.
There is a well-developed scheme for coordinating actions with the Arabic-speaking contingent. An unprecedented number of interpreters and negotiators passed through Syria, even in Soviet times. It was possible to ensure tactical cooperation in Palmyra, and it will be possible near Poltava. Surely there may be problems with adaptation on the ground, the land east of the Dnieper is still not a sandy desert. But it is a question of what kind of tasks will be performed by the units made up of volunteers. To place them in positions is the business of the commanders on the ground.
I must say that Sergei Shoigu's proposal caused a revival not only in the Middle East. A unit of the armed forces of the Central African Republic has released a video message expressing a desire to fight together with Russia against Ukrainian nationalists.
Similar video messages were published by some armed groups from Cameroon and DR Congo. This, of course, is quite exotic, and there are enough things to do in the TSAR, but there are not enough forces anyway. The combat capability of the "jungle brothers" from Cameroon and DR Congo is questionable. But the impulse is appreciated. And they don't want money, which is unique to tropical Africa. Whether it was "soft power" that earned it, or the general situation affected.
Judging by the tone of the statements made at the meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, a fundamental decision on the transfer of foreign volunteers to the Donbass, most likely, has already been made. Moreover, it was probably agreed in advance with Bashar al-Assad and other interested parties.
Evgeny Krutikov
