Russia, Ukraine racing to enlist services of Syrian youth in war
Russia is actively trying to recruit Syrians within its ongoing military campaign in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also alluded to plans to
include the Syrians into resistance to the Ukrainian troops in his country.
He said the Syrians would be
responsible for guarding Ukrainian institutions against Russian attacks.
Mediators working to sign contracts
with young Syrians to fight on behalf of either Russia or Ukraine have been
pouring onto Syrian capital, Damascus, in the past few days.
Those eligible to join the battle
include about 23,000 young men who fought alongside Syrian regime forces within
what is known as the al-Bustan Association, a militia affiliated with Rami
Makhlouf, a cousin of Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad.
Warlords are actively distributing
contracts to Syrian youth. Each fighter expects to receive $7,000 for the
duration of his participation in the war, which is expected to be seven months.
Those travelling to fight alongside
Ukraine will guard Ukrainian facilities against the Russians, according to
contracts distributed by the warlords.
Merits, demerits
According to the London-based Asharq
al-Awsat newspaper, these salaries are very high, especially in the light of
deteriorating economic conditions in Syria and the significant decline of its
currency against the US dollar.
This salary, the newspaper said,
tempts young people to participate in the war going on in Ukraine now.
However, the contracts distributed
to those who will participate in the war contain several conditions.
They make it necessary for those who
will travel to Ukraine not to return to Syria during the first seven months
from the arrival date to the country.
In case of death, the families of
those who travel will not receive any compensation from the Martyrs' Fund, a
Syrian government-controlled mechanism for compensating the families of those
who lose their lives in the war in Syria.
Those who travel will also have
their military service in Syria deferred until they return to their country.
