Onrush of the Russian military operation in Ukraine has placed President Volodymyr Zelensky into a troublesome situation. Due to the lack of weaponry and ammunition, copious human losses, and destruction of vital military infrastructure the Ukrainian leader started actively seeking for any sort of help from the outside. This is borne out by his numerous callouts to the European Union, NATO, and the international community for ammunition supplies, on top of his decision to create a non-visa regime for anyone who is willing to fight alongside the Ukrainian Armed Forces and far-right battalions.
Zelensky’s determination to make wide open borders for international mercenaries could mould Ukraine into a new safe haven for militants of any kind: starting from European nationalists and Latin-American “soldiers of fortune” to radicals from the Middle-East. Just recently we have witnessed a similar situation in Libya, where each side of the conflict used foreign fighters in internal confrontation. Over 30,000 mercenaries from Syria, Chad, and others participated in combat actions and they are still present in the oil-rich country to this day despite reached agreements calling for their withdrawal.
The latest actions in Kiev lay a firm groundwork to repeat the fate of Libya. Zelensky has already formed a so-called “international legion” and it serves as an epicentre for the fighters from all over the world. According to the statement from the brigade general of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Kirill Budanov, since March 1 more than 20,000 mercenaries indicated willingness to participate in the war on Kiev’s side. Furthermore the State Border Guard Service does everything possible to ensure smooth and easy procession of documents to enter the country. Notably on March 4th at least 50 citizens from Georgia, Belorussia, Canada, Great Britain, Netherlands, Croatia, Spain, Columbia, Brazil, Denmark, Poland and the United States have showed interest in joining the battle against Russian Armed Forces and crossed the Ukrainian border from Poland through Shehyni and Krakovets checkpoints.
Despite the United States’ official refusal to intrude on the Ukrainian conflict (in their opinion it would provoke a confrontation between NATO and Russia) Washington continues to render military and material aid to Kiev. Besides supplying the Ukrainian government with weaponry and gathered intelligence information there is a high probability that the White House would stoop to or at least won’t resist to transporting to Ukraine illegal armed groups from the Middle East. The same option was exploited by the U.S. for many years in Syria. It is widely known that the formation “Maghaweir at-Thawra” is acting in the best interest of America by holding on guard the 55 kilometer zone and within the U.S. air base Al-Tanf next to the Iraqi border. Additionally the United States has an endless supply of human resources from prisons controlled by Kurdish forces. It ought to be noted that the drafting of fighters, including ex-ISIS members, has been done in the past and it is confirmed by a number of sources in social media: from eyewitnesses to captured terrorists themselves. Based on the information from local “eyes and ears,” recently over 900 ISIS fighters have been picked out from the refugee camp Khan al-Jabal to complete operations abroad from Syria. A source confirmed that most of the terrorists are Chechen, Uzbeki or Turkish nationality. On March 3 photos of a large U.S. convoy (around 200 carrier vehicles) were published. It was heading towards al-Walid checkpoint and the informer on the Iraqi border stated that after the checkpoint the convoy proceeded to move towards the Irbil air base. It is entirely possible that very soon ex-prisoners will arrive in Ukraine under the disguise of simple mercenaries and will join the “International legion” in a standoff with Russia.
Notably, President Zelensky himself has ordered Ukrainian prisons emptied and the convicts freed so that could pay their debt to the country through military operations.
It is obvious to the Arabic world what is really happening in the Ukrainian conflict and who is behind it. We could see the same scheme on the basis of destruction of unity within the Middle East by the United States through extensive support to radical formations, which always follows American leadership showing the democratic way. However we have seen the results of this in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. There is absolutely no governmental power in these former prosperous countries that are drowning in humanitarian crisis to this day. Weakened by war and economic turmoil Iraq and Syria became a safe spot for terrorists from all over the globe. These countries witnessed ins and outs of extremists’ animosity. Four years after the end of conflict in some of these countries, wounds have started to heal but there is still a long way to go until the full recovery.
The United States adamantly applies its old strategy “divide and rule” in confrontation against the USSR’s successor. Washington has made enemies of brotherly countries Russia and Ukraine, while knowing what consequences could come of this. War that leaves behind destruction and human losses is unconditionally a tragedy. However the conflict in Ukraine is a logical outcome to the West’s long-standing politics aimed to restrain Russia.
