Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his instruction during the day, demanded that "volunteer fighters" from the Middle East and who will be on the Russian side be transported to the conflict zones in Ukraine.
As Russia enters the 16th day of its occupation of Ukraine, the fierce clashes between the two sides continue. As a result of the clashes between the two sides, the losses increased especially against the Russian army, and Vladimir Putin made a statement to compensate for these losses.
Putin announced that he had ordered the fighters from the Middle East to be on the side of Russia to be transported to the conflict zones in Ukraine. Stating that future fighters should volunteer, Vladimir Putin said, "If you see that there are people who voluntarily want to help pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, meet them halfway and help them enter the war zone." Experts think that Putin took this decision due to the increase in both personnel and equipment losses.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shovgu also stated that there are many volunteers who want to join the Russian army and fight against Ukraine and said, "We received 16 thousand applications for volunteers, mostly from the Middle East, who want to fight on behalf of Russia in Ukraine."
A senior official from the Pentagon said on March 7 that the reports that Russia was recruiting fighters from Syria to fight in Ukraine were true.
The Ukrainian General Staff shared data on the losses of the Russian army from February 24 to March 11. Accordingly, more than 12 thousand soldiers from the Russian army attacking Ukraine were killed, 57 aircraft, 83 helicopters, 353 tanks, 1165 armored vehicles, 125 artillery, 58 rocket launch systems and 31 air defense systems belonging to the Russians were destroyed. Russian forces also lost 558 vehicles, 3 light speedboats, 60 fuel vehicles and 7 UAVs in Ukraine in the last 16 days.