The first stage of sending fighters to Ukraine is planned according to local media for Tuesday - March 29, 2022. 200 fighters are expected to be transferred from Damascus to an air base in the Gomel region of Belarus.
On March 25, 2022, the Al Hadassah television channel, part of the Al Arabia concern (the world's largest Arabic-language television company), reported that the Russian private military company PMC Wagner leads with the Shiite armed group Hezbollah to send fighters to Ukraine. According to al-Haddas, the Wagner PMC was represented in the talks by a certain person Alexander Kuznetsov. On behalf of Hezbollah, the talks were led by a senior member of the security unit, Naji Hassan al-Shartouni (alias Haj Abu Ali).
The meeting appears to have taken place a few days ago, with the parties agreeing to send 800 Hezbollah fighters to Ukraine to fight. The salary for hiring one fighter will be $ 1,500 a month.
Al-Hadas also said that as a bonus to this decision, Hezbollah and, through it, Iran will be able to receive some preferences on major deals.
Soon after Kuznetsov's meeting with Haj Abu Ali, Hezbollah opened a recruitment and mobilization office in Syria's Homs province. This office is under the immediate direction of Hezbollah's military intelligence representative, Asaad Hamie (also known as Haj Hadi). Three additional counters for the mobilization of Hezbollah fighters stationed in Syria have already opened in the Syrian cities of Aleppo, Yabrud and Sayyida-Zeinab. The fourth office was opened in Lebanon's neighboring southern suburb of Beirut, which is controlled by Hezbollah.
The first stage of sending fighters to Ukraine is planned according to local media for Tuesday - March 29, 2022. 200 fighters are expected to be transferred from Damascus to an air base in the Gomel region of Belarus. Fighters for the war in Ukraine are being recruited from the hardened in combat Al Abbas and Al Radwan battalions.
Al-Hadas TV also handed over special forms to Novaya Gazeta, which were filled out by each fighter candidate for Ukraine. The forms indicate the name, date of birth, military training and combat experience of the fighter who enlisted in the war in Ukraine. On one of the forms a Hezbollah party membership card attached is visible.
Novaya Gazeta commented that Hezbollah units leaving for Ukraine could be a serious factor influencing the course of the "special operation". Hezbollah is a cohesive, skilled, modern army of practical action. Fighting is the way of life for Hezbollah members per se. The well-being of the Hezbollah member, the standard of living of his family and his social status depend on his combat experience.
Currently, Hezbollah's army numbers about 100,000 fighters. In many parts of the world, Hezbollah is recognized as a terrorist organization.
Since its inception in 1982, Hezbollah has identified itself as an armed political force ready to achieve its goals with the helps of weapons. From the age of 17, the children of all Hezbollah members, girls and boys, are sent to military training to undergo initial military training. Then, those who excelled go through longer courses in explosives, guerrilla warfare and survival training. Every fighter who has completed the full training course is sent to the front line - in southern Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen. For the past 11 years, Hezbollah's military training ground has generally been Syria with its civil war. It was there that the fighters refined their habits of fighting in urban conditions, as well as the art of sabotage.
The news of the sending of fighters to Ukraine, reported by Al Hadassah, is in stark contrast to what Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address last week. At the time, he insisted that Hezbollah categorically denied any possibility of participating in the events in Ukraine.
By the way, Hezbollah has previously denied as well the possibility of its members participating in hostilities in foreign countries - in Syria, Bosnia, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq. And each time she later confessed to sending her fighters.
But this time, the circumstances are different and the stakes are higher. Here is how they read this news in the Middle East: "Hezbollah, with the help of its Iranian sponsors, is sending troops against the president with Jewish roots, whom Israel openly supports (…)."
Source: https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2022/03/25/smert-ikh-professiia?utm_so…;
Translated by: Teodor Detchev Ph.D., associated professor.