At the Shayrat airfield in Syria, drone operators are being trained for the war against Ukraine. The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) says they are preparing to control the "Shahed-136" and "Ababil-3" UAVs.
What is known about the training of drone operators in Syria
"Lebanese Hezbollah Police" and "Iranian Revolutionary Guards" are training Russians on the territory of the Syrian military airfield Shayrat.
The course involves mastering the Iranian-made Shahed-136 and Ababil-3 UAVs and the Raad remote-controlled aircraft, the DIU notes.
Military training for the occupiers was led by one of the commanders of Hezbollah, Kamal Abu Sadiq. His speciality is the manufacture and maintenance of drones.
Syrian mercenaries, whom Russia plans to involve in the war against Ukraine as UAV operators, are also training together with the Russians.
Russia is recruiting Syrians for the war against Ukraine
A few days ago, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) reported that Russia was recruiting Syrian mercenaries to its army, offering "highly paid work." Men are recruited in Syria through travel agencies.
This is not the first time that Russia has involved foreigners in the war with Ukraine in a deceptive way, for example, by offering them a job. Such cases became more frequent at the end of last year. Then Russia, in particular, took advantage of the migration crisis on the border with Finland and began to recruit foreigners detained during the sweep of the Finnish border into its army.
In pretrial detention centres, they were handed documents in Russian, which they did not understand, allegedly as an offer to earn extra money. Fearing deportation, many signed the offer, after which they were sent to fight in Ukraine.
Russia also recruited Nepali citizens for the war. According to the country's government, 200 Nepalese joined the Russian army. They are involved in the war. Six Nepalese have already died, and one was captured by the Ukrainians.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine also captured a citizen of Somalia. He directly said that he was a mercenary.
