Russia forms new military group in Syria’s Suwayda
SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – Russian officers are about to finish the formation of a new military group affiliated with them through recruiting local residents, offering them high wages, sources in Suwayda, southern Syria, said.
Russian officers, through mediators working for the government’s State Security Branch in Suwayda, requested the formation of a military group, with salaries of up to $2,000.
In mid-June, four Russian officers visited the headquarters of the Eighth Brigade that is affiliated with the Russian-backed Fifth Corps, which is stationed in the southeastern countryside of Daraa, one of the mediators told North Press under the condition of anonymity.
They headed towards the headquarters of the State Security Branch in Suwayda reiterating their demand for the formation of an auxiliary military group for the government forces and operate under the command of the Russian Khmeimim Air Base on the Syrian coast, he added.
The new formation will be affiliated with the Fifth Corps and will be stationed between the countryside of both Daraa and Suwayda, according to the same source.
The source stressed that a number of the residents of Suwayda has been recruited by government security officers, mediators, delegates and brokers working for Russian security companies operating in southern Syria including the Russian Wagner and al-Sayyad companies, pointing out that the new formation is about to be finished.
Residents of Suwayda said that recruiting attempts in Suwayda under Russian command are not new, as it is trying to form a group including the residents of Suwayda, similar to the Eighth Brigade in Daraa led by Ahmad al-Awda, amid the deteriorating economic conditions in the city.