BATTLE-HARDENED
Putin to unleash 16,000 fighters from Middle East waiting to join invasion of Ukraine
VLADIMIR Putin is set to unleash 16,000 fighters from the Middle East, who are waiting to join the invasion of Ukraine.
Syria's military is beginning to recruit troops to fight alongside Russian forces as thousands of volunteers are set to join the battle.
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Speaking at a Russian security council meeting, Putin said those people in the Middle East who want to sign up to fight for him should be allowed to do so.
And Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces.
Putin told his defence minister: "If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "thugs from Syria" would be coming to kill people "in a foreign land" in a video response as Putin's war effort attempts to escalate.
And now enlistment notices have been posted on Syria's regime-linked websites - advertising that troops will be fighting in Ukraine.
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One promises payments of $3,000 a month, which is nearly 50 times a Syrian soldier’s monthly salary.
Posts were also made on Friday by supporters of dictator Bashar al-Assad, asking for information on how to enlist.
It comes as Putin's now lost 11 military commanders with the death of a third general in his invasion of Ukraine.
They are among 12,500 Russian troops the Ukrainians now claims it has killed as the spluttering campaign continues to take its toll on Moscow's forces.
The Russian tyrant expected a quick victory when he ordered the invasion two weeks, ago but his forces have become bogged down and now regularly hit civilians.
The latest senior commander to die is Major General Andrei Kolesnikov of the 29th Combined Arms Army, Ukraine's defence ministry has said.
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His death follows that of Colonel Andrei Zakharov, who was killed in an a Ukrainian ambush near Kyiv.
Another general, Vitaly Gerasimov, who was killed in fighting outside Ukraine's second city Kharkiv.
Major General Gerasimov was awarded a medal for "capturing" the disputed province of Crimea in 2014, and also received medals after leading troops in Syria and in the second Chechen war.
Other top commanders have been killed in recent fighting in Ukraine.
Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov, who led a Marine brigade, died along with Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov and Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky, who led air assault troops.
Safronov and Glebov were killed when Ukrainian forces have recaptured the city of Chuhuiv, while Zizevsky was killed at in the south of Ukraine.
Their deaths come after those of other senior Russian commanders, including two other generals.
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Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was killed by a Ukrainian sniper during the fighting for Hostomel Airfield about 30 miles outside the capital Kyiv.
And General Magomed Tushaev died when his Chechen special forces column, including 56 tanks, was obliterated near Hostomel, north-east of the city.
The Chechen soldiers are known as "hunters" and each of them was reportedly given a pack of cards with senior Ukrainian officials that Moscow wants dead.
Also among the Russian dead is warlord Vladimir Zhonga who led the Sparta Battalion, a Neo-Nazi military unit that has the Kremlin's backing.
The group is behind a wave of deadly attacks against Ukrainian troops and has been waging war in the Donbass region since hostilities broke out eight years ago.
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Two other unnamed Russian senior commanders have also been killed in the fighting.
Aleksey Danilov, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, said the failures have now led to eight generals also being fired, .
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He also revealed the Russians have switched tactics in the wake of the slaughter of the their troops.
The invasion has also seen Russian pilots blasted out of the sky, tanks caught in huge traffic jams and videos of sobbing showing soldiers after surrendering to the Ukrainians.
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