FEATURED
Russian-backed Rebel Fighters Move In As Putin Seeks Foreign Volunteers
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for foreign volunteers to be able to fight against Ukrainian forces.
Speaking at a Russian security council meeting, he said those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russia-backed forces should be allowed to.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces.
US officials said these could include Syrians skilled in urban combat.
Moscow is a long-standing ally of Syria and Mr Putin has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war.
“If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Mr Putin told his defence minister.
Mr Shoigu also proposed handing over captured Western anti-tank missile systems to Russian-backed rebel fighters in the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas region.
“Please do this,” Mr Putin said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, responding in a video message, said “thugs from Syria” would be coming to kill people “in a foreign land”.
Foreign fighters, including former and current British army personnel, have also been arriving in Ukraine to fight for the government in Kyiv.
Mr Zelensky said recently that 16,000 foreigners had volunteered for the cause, part of what he called an “international legion”.
(BBC report, excluding headline)
Isoko South Chairman Warri, Chief of Staff Erijo Hail Conduct of APC LGA Congress
Ned Nwoko’s UTME Gift: 1,500 Delta North Students Rejoice
NDLEA Arrests Real Estate Chief, Busts Woman with Drugs in Fake Pregnancy as Ivorian Excretes 82 Cocaine Wraps at Kano Airport
Oborevwori Rewards UNIDEL Best Graduating Student with ₦5m, 30 First-class with N500k Each
48-year-old Suspected Gun Runner Arrested with 969 Rounds of Ammunition in Taraba
Ribadu’s Phone Bugging: DSS to Arraign El-Rufai Feb 25
Pakistan Offers to Help Nigeria Fight Terrorism as Defence Adviser Meets COAS
Oborevwori Boosts Infrastructure at UNIDEL, Inaugurates Faculties of Engineering, Environmental Sciences
How Orubebe and Jonathan Came Close to Losing Their Lives for Amnesty
DSCTDA Sustains Cleanup Exercise at Koka Bridge
el-Rufai Moved from EFCC to ICPC Detention Facility Over Ongoing Investigations
COAS Advocates for Sustainable Veterans’ Welfare Systems Backed by Law
Alleged $6bn Mambilla Fraud: Agunloye Knew Sunrise Power Owner, Leno Adesanya Before Ministerial Appointment – EFCC Witness
Two Arraigned for Alleged N143million Fraud in Benin-City
