Mercenaries from at least 83 countries around the world have joined “rebel “ranks to fight against the Syrian government in the ongoing war. And some of them are reported to be Russian nationals. Now the Syrian government says they will serve their jail terms in Syria, if caught, according to Voice of Russia.
Soldiers-for-hire with Russian passports are predominantly of Chechen descent. Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad told journalists today reports about numbers and nationalities of mercenaries that have been involved in the civil conflict need further verification, but there are estimated to be about 10,000 of them.
In September, the Russian FSB agency said there could be up to 400 hired militants with Russian background in”rebel” groupingsin Syria .
In April, the EU’s anti-terror chief Gilles de Kerchove also said that some 500 Europeans were in Syria to fight against the Syrian government, including Britons, Irishmen and Germans.
R.S