BEIRUT (AP) — During a visit to Syria in 2017, Vladimir Putin lavished praise on a Syrian general whose division played an instrumental role in defeating insurgents in the country’s long-running civil war. The Russian president told him his cooperation with Russian troops “will lead to great successes in the future.”
Now members of Brig. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan’s division are among hundreds of Russian-trained Syrian fighters who have reportedly signed up to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, including Syrian soldiers, former rebels and experienced fighters who fought for years against the Islamic State group in Syria’s desert.
#Ukraine: Video showing a tank operated by the 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard hitting a Russian/separatist BMP in Rubizhne, #Luhansk Oblast. It is destroyed, as can be expected. pic.twitter.com/TKEa4DSSNR
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 18, 2022
