Sonntag, 23.10.2022 / 18:51 Uhr

Russische Truppen: Aus Syrien in die Ukraine

Von
Thomas von der Osten-Sacken

Voller Sorge dürfte der syrische Präsident verfolgen, dass zunehmend russische Militärs aus seinem Land abgezogen und in die Ukraine verlegt werden:

According to two senior Western diplomats and a senior Israeli defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to speak more freely, Moscow recently transferred some troops and a Russian air-defense system out of Syria, removing one of the main restrictions on Israeli military actions in Syria.

The officials had varying estimates about how many troops were withdrawn — two of them said two battalions, or between 1,200 and 1,600 soldiers, while the other said it was far more. But they all agreed that the number of combat troops had been reduced.

The Israeli official also said that several Russian commanders had been redeployed from Syria to Ukraine, while Russia’s military leadership in Moscow has become less involved in day-to-day management of operations in Syria, including with military coordination with Israel.

Während noch, wie es scheint, Kadyrows Milizen bleiben, machen sich andere Tschetschenen ebenfalls auf den Weg:

Al-Monitor has learned that the commander and members of Ajnad al-Kavkaz, a Chechen-led Islamic rebel group active in northern Syria, headed to Ukraine to fight against the Russian forces there. 

Sources from within jihadist groups in Syria told Al-Monitor that Chechen fighters from Ajnad al-Kavkaz fighting Syrian government forces in the countryside of Latakia recently arrived in Ukraine from Idlib, where they fought the Syrian government alongside the opposition. 

The same sources said that more commanders are expected to leave Idlib for Ukraine to escape the crackdown led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and to seek revenge against Russia and the forces of President Vladimir Putin’s ally, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.