According to informed sources, Russia produced about 60 thousands of troops, mostly Sunni Muslims from among representatives of the North Caucasian republics, for their subsequent placement in Syria, writes Marwan al-Shamali in the pages of the publication of the Saudi Al-Watan Saudi Arabia. The first part of these forces already serves as the police in Aleppo, and to the east of the valley of Wadi Barrado about Palmyra formed Muslim battalion called TURAN. According to a report portal Business Insider, Moscow began to strengthen its role in Syria. The information on the significant expansion of the Russian military bases, at the same time increasing the number of private military companies, who are fighting on behalf of the Kremlin. The article highlights, that the most important is the fact, Putin sends to Syria a large number of troops from Chechnya and Ingushetia, to get rid of militants from Iran. Until recently, the presence of Russian regular army in Syria was largely limited. Now continue sending these battalions is a strategic step in Moscow, which is currently rolling out across Syria choicest land forces, formed from the Russian Sunni Muslims.
The actual size of the Kremlin's new battalions, still uncertain.
first reported, the number of Chechens, sent to Syria in December, It was about 500 human, while, according to some estimates, Ingush number was slightly less - about 300 human. Researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague Mark Galeotti believes, what “this blatant acknowledgment of Moscow in, it got stuck in the swamp”. The mobilization of these forces give Moscow another important advantage because, that the citizens of the North Caucasus in the majority - Muslim. Since the arrival of the first units in December 2016 , Moscow sought to use their common religion with the Syrians in their own interests. The soldiers were informed about the need to use the words Islamic and Arabic names, to build a friendly relationship with the population. Another attempt to exploit a common faith between the Syrian and Russian soldiers as was the announcement of the conversion to Islam of one of the Russian soldiers.
Despite, that the deployment of the Chechen battalions represents a new stage in Russia's intervention in Syria, Moscow's idea to use the Islamic factor is not new. Previously, the link between Moscow and the Arab countries was the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, that in the framework of the mission carried out official visits on behalf of Putin and attracted Arab investors in the capital of Chechnya. Until now, sending Muslim forces was carried out selectively and very accurately. They appear only in the regions and participated only in those events, that Moscow is considered the most important in order to achieve their goals in Syria. unlikely, that soon battalions of the North Caucasus will play a big role, but they will be working at the forefront of strategy of Moscow, which use them to be able to expand its influence in Syria, more and more.
