Russia lures Syrians into army in exchange for Yakut passports

Russia is tricking Syrians who don't even speak Russian into signing contracts with the Russian Defence Ministry, providing them with Russian passports in return, including some that are registered in Yakutia in Russia’s Far East.

Source: an investigation by Wadih el-Hayek published in Novaya Gazeta

Quote: "My sources in Syria told me how the recruitment process works and why the 'New Russians' get Yakut passports.

A Syrian mediator who used to recruit people for Wagner's operations in Libya is now recruiting Syrians to travel to Russia. His name is Wassim Al Dimashki, and he is from As-Suwayda, although there are other intermediaries in Damascus and Homs.

I’ve been told that Wassim tells young people that they will be going to Yakutia to guard gold and diamond mines: Yakutia is a huge region, and there aren’t enough local people to do this. The salary for the job will be around US$2,000 a month, in addition to receiving a Russian passport.

The last batch of recruits that left for Russia consisted of 40 people, 30 of them from As-Suwayda. Wassim receives 5,000,000 Syrian liras (about US$340) for each person he recruits.

In Moscow, they are met by Dr Akram Dib Tarraf, a Syrian. He is said to receive RUB 320,000 (about US$2,500) for each recruit who signs a contract with the Russian Armed Forces, but I was unable to find out exactly who pays him the money."

Details: El-Hayek says the Syrians fly from Moscow to Yakutia, where they are divided into two groups. One is sent to Ulan-Ude for military training, the other to a field camp in European Russia, where they train as infantrymen.

The journalist noted that none of the recruits speak any Russian, but the contracts they sign are in Russian. After that, they receive Russian passports.

Quote: "My sources in Syria sent me two voice notes. One is from a likely recruiter, and the other is from a Syrian already in a training camp (speaking in Arabic).

The recruiter talks in a very calm voice about Yakutia, how big it is, and how rich in minerals. Throughout his message, he kept repeating that the Syrians' invitation was an initiative of the Yakut authorities because very few people live there.

The message from the person in the training camp sounds much more dramatic. In a tearful voice, he says they were told they would be guarding gold mines, but Wassim Al Dimashki sold them as soldiers.

The man says: 'Our group has been forced to go to target shooting training. We don't know the language, and we’ve signed papers without knowing what was written in them'."

More details: El-Hayek is convinced that the steady stream of Syrians willing to sign contracts with the Russian Defence Ministry is not the result of Russian propaganda, but because they have been tricked.

Background: On 4 January, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree granting Russian citizenship to foreigners who signed a contract with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the war against Ukraine, as well as to their family members.

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