Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has promised to provide Russia with 40,000 militants for the war in Ukraine - Ukrainian intelligence

This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Espreso.TV reports.

According to intelligence sources, the command of the Russian military base Khmeimim in Syria was instructed to send up to 300 militants to Ukraine daily. So, on March 15, 150 mercenaries were sent to Russia from this military base to participate in hostilities against Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian military intelligence, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad promised to provide Russia with 40,000 fighters for the war in Ukraine.  During recruitment, mercenaries are promised that they will perform purely police functions to restore order in the occupied territories. However, recently information has begun to spread among them about their direct participation in hostilities against the Ukrainian army, which significantly reduced the "fighting spirit" of the Syrians.

Also, the fact that more than 30 militants who were wounded in battles against the defenders of Ukraine recently arrived at the Khmeimim military base from Russia had a negative impact on the morale of the mercenaries. Consequently, some of the mercenaries refused to participate in hostilities. Among the Syrian militants, there were even recorded cases of self-mutilation.

According to Ukrainian intelligence officers, some of the mercenaries consider being sent to Russia and Belarus as a chance for further desertion and illegal migration to the EU countries.