‘Syrians disappear in Luhansk Oblast’ — Ukraine’s intelligence says Moscow uses foreign fighters as cannon fodder

Russia is luring men from Syria to use them as cannon fodder in battles in Ukraine’s east, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (HUR) said on Sept. 17.
Throughout the full-scale war, Moscow has been using various schemes to enlist migrants and foreign nationals to offset the heavy losses it had suffered during the invasion while avoiding full mobilization.
Syria, a country ravaged by civil war and largely ruled by the Kremlin’s ally Bashar al-Assad, is one of the key targets of these efforts.
“Russia has established a scheme with travel companies to recruit Syrians for the war against Ukraine. First, poor people are offered jobs as security guards in Russian oil regions, and then they are lured with a higher salary” to fight the war against Ukraine, HUR said on social media. Syrian nationals are also promised Russian passports.
Syrian mercenaries are then reportedly used as cannon fodder in mass infantry attacks and are being rejected evacuation when wounded. As an example, HUR presented the stories of Mohammed Mansour and Wahid Mursal Al-Shibli, two Syrian mercenaries fighting for Russia.
As part of a squad of 14 other Syrians, Mansur was deployed in an attack near Svatove in Luhansk Oblast in July. After coming under Ukrainian fire, Russia rejected the mercenaries’ request for evacuation and ordered them to press the attack, HUR said.
Mansur allegedly refused to obey the order and fled the battlefield, while the rest of his unit dispersed and is now considered missing.
Al-Shibli was deployed in Luhansk Oblast as a member of a seven-member squad. He was injured in battle and died as he was not evacuated, HUR caimed.
The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify all the claims.
Some third-party countries have taken steps to prevent their citizens from dying on Ukrainian battlefields. India has reached a deal with Moscow to dischrage its nationals from the Russian Armed Forces, while Nepal stopped issuing work permits for Russia.