Putin gives green light to deployment of Middle Eastern mercenaries

It is estimated that 15,000 soldiers as well as tankers and ammunition trucks are part of the convoy.

Today, President Putin gave the go-ahead for the deployment of 16,000 Middle Eastern mercenaries alongside pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.

The move would allow Russia to send seasoned fighters from conflicts such as Syria to Ukraine without risking further Russian casualties.

At a meeting of the Russian Security Council, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russian-backed forces in the breakaway region of Donbass, in eastern Ukraine.

“If you see that there are those people who want voluntarily, not for money, to come and help the people of Donbass, then we have to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Putin said. said of the Kremlin.

It comes as the mayor of Kyiv, former world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, said his city “has been turned into a fortress” ahead of another feared Russian attack.

About 2 million people, more than half of the city’s residents, are now believed to have evacuated.