The aggressor state of russia continues the practice of ‘zhukovshchina’, using foreign mercenaries as cannon fodder in the war against Ukraine.

The war-torn, poverty-stricken Syria has become one of the countries where russia is actively recruiting men to fight. The mercenaries are promised russian passports and paid work, after which few of them return.

The use of mercenaries from Syria as cannon fodder by the russians is confirmed by the stories of two Syrians: Mohammed Mansour and Waheed Mursal al-Shibli. Both were part of the 488th motorised rifle regiment of the 144th motorised rifle division of the russian occupation army (military unit 12721).

In July 2024, Mansour, along with 14 other Syrian mercenaries, was sent by the russians to assault near the town of Svatove, Luhansk region. During the attack, the group came under the Ukrainian fire. The russian invaders refused to evacuate the wounded soldiers and ordered the Syrians to continue the assault. Mansour, who was being wounded, did not comply with the russians’ order and fled the battlefield. The rest of the mercenaries, who were unable to evacuate, were reported missing.

On September 15, 2024, Syrian publics wrote about the death of their citizen during the war against Ukraine –Wahid Mursal al-Shibli, a peasant, received a russian passport and went to storm Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region as part of a group of seven mercenaries that was defeated. Mursal died of his wounds because the russian military refused to evacuate him. The fate of the rest of the Syrian fighters is unknown.

This is to remind that russia has set up a scheme with travel agencies to recruit Syrians for the war against Ukraine: firstly, the poor are offered jobs as security guards in russian oil provinces, and then lured with higher salaries to participate in “meat assaults”.