Ukraine War: A New Battlefront for Syrian Mercenaries
Syrian and Russian soldiers in Karm al-Tarif, east of Aleppo, in the north of the country on December 4, 2016 (AP)
Russia’s war against Ukraine has produced a new battlefront for Syrian youth seeking to escape “hell” in their country and find ways to resolve their living, security, and economic crises. Warlords will want to profit off the conflict the way they did in other wars in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.
With Russian and Turkish sponsorship, Syrian mercenaries have fought in wars abroad.
Mediators in Damascus and other government-run areas in Syria have started signing contracts with Syrian youths willing to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.
The new list of conscripts includes around 23,000 Syrians who had fought in militia formations alongside the Syrian government forces. These fighters once went to battle under the banners of the Al-Bustan Association and the National Defense Forces (NDF).
The military wing of Al-Bustan Association had belonged to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s maternal cousin, Rami Makhlouf, but was later disbanded and taken over by Damascus.
Meanwhile, the NDF was co-founded with Iran in 2012. It had lost traction on the battlefield after the Russian intervention in Syria in 2015.
Saturday marks two years passing since Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed the Idlib truce in Syria, stabilizing contact lines in the Levantine country’s north and northwest.
Moreover, Russian-US agreements dating back to mid-2017 had marked “borders” between government-run areas and regions east of the Euphrates river.
During a meeting at the Russian-operated Hmeimim airbase in western Syria and before Russia waging its attack on Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu had told Assad to wait for an all-out attack against Idlib, because Moscow will be busy with Ukraine and does not want to anger Ankara at present.
As the 11th anniversary of the Syrian opposition protests approaches, it is worth noting that two whole years had passed without any significant change in the “borders” of the microstates that had formed in Syria.
In Syria, the economic crisis and suffering have been exacerbated, leaving 90% of the population in poverty. At least 12.4 million Syrians, or 60% of the population, are food insecure.
The Syrian pound has also witnessed a sharp decline in its value, dropping from 46 pounds to 3,500 pounds per dollar, at a time when food prices are 33 times higher than they were during the pre-war period.
An estimated 14 million people need assistance inside the country, and more than five million people lack access to freshwater.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has deepened the Syrians’ crises, as the two warring countries constitute a significant source of food and livelihood supplies, especially bread and energy.
But this provided additional reasons for “investing in the suffering of the people,” as warlords in Damascus and other government-run areas were active in distributing draft contracts to young people.
The contract promises $7,000 so long that the recruit serves seven consecutive months in protecting facilities in Ukraine. The contract’s first condition is that draftees do not return to Syria during the seven months.
The second condition is that the Syrian government has nothing to do with these contracts.
If a recruit is killed, they are not eligible for the national “Martyrs’ Fund” in Syria and their families won’t enjoy any privileges.
However, young volunteers may get justifications to postpone their mandatory military service, which was one of the reasons for the emigration of many young Syrians.
Instead of fighting each other, Syrian youth are now fighting wars abroad.
Back when Russia and Turkey transferred thousands of them to “protect oil installations” in Libya or Nagorno-Karabakh the mercenary’s contract was for six months, while in Ukraine it will last for seven months.
This indicates that the Russian Hmeimim air base, the main umbrella for the recruitment process, has a conviction that the Ukrainian war will last for months or years, not days.
Damascus has clearly sided with Moscow politically. It issued supportive official statements, backed the recognition of the “independence of the republics” of eastern Ukraine, and voted alongside Cuba, Eritrea, North Korea and Russia in the United Nations General Assembly against a Western condemnation statement that received the support of 141 countries.
Since the outbreak of the attack against Ukraine, contacts between Damascus and Tehran also intensified.
The Director of the Syrian National Security Office, Major General Ali Mamlouk, met his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, and President Ibrahim Raisi to coordinate against “US moves to recruit fighters from the east of the Euphrates.” This came amid reports that other Syrian mercenaries are ready to fight on Ukraine’s behalf.
But most likely, the Syrian-Iranian coordination aims to have Iran “fill the void” if Russia is too preoccupied with Ukraine.
For its part, Russia prepared for the potential eventuality of its involvement in Ukraine by signing a military agreement with Belarus to send military forces with “humanitarian missions” to Syria and depending on Iran to provide economic, oil and food aid to the war-torn country.
Damascus, an ally of both Moscow and Tehran, will likely inch closer to Iran if a nuclear deal is signed in Vienna. A deal would secure Iran’s ability to economically help Syria while Russia is busy with its new adventure in Ukraine.
Even though the past months had witnessed the balance in Syria tilting in favor of Russia, as Moscow succeeded in the acquisition of interests that Tehran sought to control in the country, including the port of Latakia, the coming days may witness a swing in the balance of Iran.
However, Russia continues to green light Israel’s attacks against Iranian interests to prevent Tehran from “strategic positioning”, especially in southern Syria.
A Grieving Father Buries His 6-Year-Old After a Land Mine Kills 3 Children in Syria’s Idlibhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5276200-grieving-father-buries-his-6-year-old-after-land-mine-kills-3-children-syria%E2%80%99s
Idris Al-Ridah, center, weeps as he prays during the funeral of his son Mohammed, who was killed in an explosion caused by war remnants while playing with other children in the village of Abu Habbah in eastern Idlib countryside, in Abu Habbah, Syria, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP)
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A Grieving Father Buries His 6-Year-Old After a Land Mine Kills 3 Children in Syria’s Idlib
Idris Al-Ridah, center, weeps as he prays during the funeral of his son Mohammed, who was killed in an explosion caused by war remnants while playing with other children in the village of Abu Habbah in eastern Idlib countryside, in Abu Habbah, Syria, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP)
Idris al-Ridah wept as he carried the lifeless body of his 6-year-old son Amir, wrapped in a yellow and brown blanket, in northwest Syria.
The father collapsed to the ground as he laid his son to rest, his small body lowered into a grave next to two other young children who were siblings, Aya al-Fankih, 4, and Rayan al-Fankih, 6.
The three children were killed on Thursday in the village of Abu Habbah, in the countryside in the northwestern province of Idlib, when a land mine left behind from Syria's war exploded while they were playing near a well.
The deaths are the latest reminder of the dangers posed by unexploded war remnants scattered across the country years after the conflict began.
Mines and booby traps have killed and maimed hundreds of Syrians since Syria’s conflict began in March 2011, leaving about half a million people dead.
The Syrian Civil Defense said four other children who were near the well were also wounded in the blast.
"We heard a very loud explosion next to our house,” one resident, Mahmoud al-Aleiwi. He added that “when we got to the location there were a number of children’s bodies thrown around the well.”
He said one of the children was thrown 300 meters (984 feet) away by the explosion and was found on the roof of a house.
At a nearby hospital, wounded children cried as family members tended to them. One child had shrapnel wounds across his face and body, his legs wrapped in bandages. Another lay in bed with blood visible through bandages wrapped around his head.
Ten-year-old Ibrahim al-Suwadi was injured last month in a separate explosion caused by unexploded ordnance inside a damaged school in the town of al-Habit in Idlib’s southern countryside.
Sitting beside his father inside their home, al-Suwadi described how he was playing with his friends at the school when they went inside a room and found the mine.
“Two brothers picked it up and took it to the bathroom,” the boy said. “We thought it was an exploded mine so we started throwing rocks at it. All of a sudden, an older boy grabbed my hand and we ran, the mine exploded and I lost consciousness then I don’t remember anything.”
His father said the family had fled their village in 2013 during fighting and spent years living in displacement camps before returning after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in December 2024.
Humanitarian organizations say unexploded ordnance remains one of the deadliest legacies of Syria’s war.
“Syria has ranked among the top contaminated countries around the world over the past years,” said Jakub Valenta, head of humanitarian disarmament and peace building for the Danish Refugee Council in Syria. He added that according to the data from the United Nations, around 14.3 million people are in danger of explosive ordnance in the country.
Valenta said the explosive hazards include anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines and other unexploded devices left behind in residential and agricultural areas.
“We’re estimating that around 1,200 people and probably more have been affected by explosive ordnance accidents directly,” he said. “Out of those 1,200 people there were around 740 fatal casualties. The vast majority of these people are men and children.”
According to the Danish Refugee Council, around 60% of contaminated areas in Syria are agricultural lands, complicating efforts by displaced families to return home and rebuild livelihoods.
In Damascus’ southern suburb of Kisweh earlier this month, Syrian trainees working with Danish Refugee Council teams carefully removed and destroyed unexploded ordnance during training exercises aimed at expanding local demining capacity.
The organization says it has recruited and trained new Syrian explosive ordnance disposal teams to help clear contaminated areas and educate communities about the risks.
“The number of the casualties is among the highest worldwide in terms of explosive accidents and victims,” Valenta said.
“These people suffer lifelong injuries, physical like losing a limb or their vision and suffer mental health problems," he said. “These people also lose their jobs and livelihoods."
Archives Interrupted: Vintage Pics Show Gaza 'We No Longer Know'https://english.aawsat.com/features/5276156-archives-interrupted-vintage-pics-show-gaza-we-no-longer-know
When Kegham Djeghalian photographed daily life in Gaza last century, the Palestinian territory was synonymous with Hollywood-inspired brides, fancy dress parties and excursions to smoke a hookah at the beach.
They are images from a time far removed from the rubble and tent cities of the now war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
"It's a Gaza we no longer know. A joyful Gaza, one full of hope, connected to the world, with trains and an airport," said his grandson, who has curated a show of his work in France's southern city of Marseille.
Djeghalian survived the Armenian genocide of 1915 -- a term strongly denied by Türkiye -- then settled in Gaza, opening the city's first ever photo studio in 1944.
He refused to leave, despite the recurring conflicts hitting the small territory wedged between Egypt and what became Israel in 1948, spending four decades capturing images of the Palestinian society that had adopted him, up until his death in 1981.
Some 300 of his surviving photographs are on show in Marseille until September.
In one image, children have clambered onto each other to form a human pyramid in the courtyard of a school for Palestinian refugees displaced after the creation of Israel.
In another, women with voluminous hair blowouts pose smiling next to a sewing machine.
In a third, French philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir have just stepped off a small propeller plane.
The photograph has no caption, but the pair visited the Gaza Strip in March 1967 shortly before Israel seized the coastal territory in the Six-Day war.
"I grew up with family stories about Kegham, the Gazan photographer who survived the Armenian genocide," the curator, who inherited the same name as his grandfather and calls himself Kegham Jr, told AFP.
The 41-year-old professor of visual culture, who spent part of his childhood in Egypt, says his father discovered over 1,000 photo negatives "by chance" in 2018 in three red boxes at the back of a cupboard in the family's Cairo apartment.
They included studio portraits and family photos, images of children on balconies and at the beach, and crowds in the streets.
"We see a diverse society: Armenians, Greeks, Palestinians, Bedouins. But also those displaced in 1948," said Kegham Jr.
Today two-thirds of Gaza's population are descendants of Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations.
Kegham Jr said he did not want any captions or context to the pictures in the exhibition titled "Photo Kegham of Gaza: Unboxing", which is to travel to Bristol in the United Kingdom in October.
The "interrupted and unfinished" archives thus illustrate "a rupture of histories, shattered by war, by genocide, by occupation", he said.
Kegham Jr was unable to visit Gaza, with the territory under blockade since Hamas seized control in 2007, and then a devastating war ravaging the territory after the Palestinian Islamist militant group attacked Israel in October 2023.
To complete his photo collections, the grandson reached out to a Palestinian called Marwan al-Tarazi who held part of the archives after his brother inherited the studio.
A part of the exhibition dubbed "Zoom call" shows screenshots of their conversation in 2021.
The collaboration was interrupted when, in October 2023, Israeli strikes killed Tarazi, his wife and grandchild, he said.
In front of the images at the Marseille Photography Centre, Houri Varjabedian, a 70-year-old Marseille resident hailing from an Armenian family in Lebanon, said it felt like looking into a family album.
Her maternal grandfather, a dentist in the Ottoman army, had himself been photographed in Gaza, she said.
She said it was heartbreaking to see "those wonderful palm trees, that beach".
"It's a bit terrible given the current events," she added.
Petraeus Hands Washington 'Executive Plan' to Disarm Iraq's Armed Factionshttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5275874-petraeus-hands-washington-executive-plan-disarm-iraqs-armed-factions
A 2008 photo released by the Pentagon shows David Petraeus briefing Barack Obama, then a US senator, on a plan to secure Sadr City in eastern Baghdad during an aerial tour over the area.
Petraeus Hands Washington 'Executive Plan' to Disarm Iraq's Armed Factions
A 2008 photo released by the Pentagon shows David Petraeus briefing Barack Obama, then a US senator, on a plan to secure Sadr City in eastern Baghdad during an aerial tour over the area.
Iraqi officials said the United States has conditioned the integration of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) on disarming armed factions, sidelining their leaders, and appointing professional officers to oversee the PMF’s infrastructure, a step Washington says is necessary because the force remains a major obstacle to restoring normal relations with Baghdad.
But Shiite groups said implementing the “bold plan,” which remains under discussion, would place Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government in an unequal confrontation with Iran and the factions linked to it, amid a lack of guarantees, warning of “internal divisions and unrest.”
What did Petraeus do in Baghdad?
The information disclosed by officials involved in technical and political discussions on the future of the PMF coincided with a visit by retired US General David Petraeus to Baghdad last week in his capacity as an “independent expert” providing advisory services to the White House.
After leaving Baghdad, Petraeus wrote on LinkedIn on May 17, 2026, that Iraqi officials he met “recognized the importance of ensuring that the Iraqi Security Services have a monopoly on the use of force in Iraq.” He added that he left Iraq “encouraged by what I heard, while also realistic about the dynamics with Iran.”
Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Petraeus spent five days in Baghdad, where he met senior Iraqi officials. The fate of PMF fighters was at the center of “serious discussions,” according to sources.
A US State Department spokesperson told Asharq Al-Awsat that Petraeus visited Baghdad as “a private citizen, nothing more.”
However, the level of meetings he held there, including with Iraq’s Chief Justice Faiq Zidan, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi, and Counter Terrorism Service chief Staff Lieutenant General Karim al-Tamimi, went beyond the nature of a personal visit.
An informed Iraqi source told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Petraeus’s meetings revolved around a single objective: reforming the military institution and ending the current PMF structure, while discussing realistic and practical mechanisms for integrating its members into the security institutions.”
Petraeus is among the most prominent commanders associated with the Iraq war after 2003. He gained experience through a range of field and strategic roles, most notably commanding the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Petraeus now serves as partner and chief operating officer at KKR, a global investment management firm. Information available on the company’s website indicates that its activities are expanding across Middle Eastern countries, with no reference to Iraq.
KKR did not respond to Asharq Al-Awsat’s requests for comment on the nature of Petraeus’s visit to Baghdad or whether the White House had assigned him an advisory mission there.
However, three government and political figures told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US general “has been tasked with drafting an actionable executive paper to be submitted to the White House at a later stage through US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack.”
People close to the new prime minister in Baghdad told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Ali al-Zaidi will discuss this sensitive issue with US President Donald Trump if a planned visit to the White House takes place.”
An Iraqi official who declined to be identified said that “the preliminary date could be set after Eid al-Adha in June,” noting that “the timing could be affected by the course of negotiations between Washington and Tehran.”
General David Petraeus began his visit to Baghdad with a meeting with Iraq’s Chief Justice, Faiq Zidan (DPA).
“A Danger That Could Blow Up in Your Face”
A person familiar with the discussions held during Petraeus’s meetings said that “some Iraqi officials spoke to the US general as though they were speaking directly to President Trump. They displayed unusual candor about their concerns over the potential consequences of plans for the Popular Mobilization Forces that remain largely theoretical at this stage.”
Another source said that “the US general listened more than he spoke during his meetings with Iraqi officials, but he was clear about what Washington wants: eliminating the source of the regional threat.” Nevertheless, “the general left Baghdad without complete confidence in Baghdad’s ability to resolve the problem in line with the US vision.”
Two Western diplomats, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said that “US confidence declined sharply during the final months of Sudani’s government because of what was viewed as leniency toward attacks by armed factions during the war. The current prime minister may now pay the price when he is asked to provide stronger security and political guarantees regarding the enforcement of state sovereignty.”
As attacks on Gulf states continued, and with the United States accusing the previous Iraqi government of providing official cover for these groups, the Popular Mobilization Forces and the armed factions associated with them have become “a knot that is difficult to untangle.” An Iraqi official said the issue is “a danger that must be dealt with, but when you get close to it, it could blow up in your face.”
Washington hopes that the new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman whose commercial activities are rumored to have prospered under the shadow of politics, will be able to distance his government from Iranian influence. It sees the issue of weapons outside state control as a test of whether trust can be maintained and support resumed, but the task will not be easy, according to a person close to him.
A person familiar with political consultations concerning the Popular Mobilization Forces said that “Petraeus did not answer questions raised by Iraqi officials about whether there would be sufficient backing to confront Iran if the Popular Mobilization Forces were dissolved.”
Shiite forces are pushing to refer the future of the Popular Mobilization Forces to parliament for discussion rather than addressing it under US pressure (AP).
Baghdad ‘Buys Time’
For Shiite leaders in Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are “a matter of destiny” and “a red line that cannot be crossed,” according to officials close to the factions. But the organization has become caught in intense regional polarization since the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and has been directly involved in the recent conflict between the United States and Iran.
Figures close to the armed factions have appeared on television warning of “retaliation against any government or political official who participates in a project to integrate or dissolve the PMF.”
A leader of an armed faction told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Iran recently urged them to resist the US effort aimed at dismantling the largest military force safeguarding its interests in the region.”
He added: “Generals from the Revolutionary Guards who play supervisory roles within Shiite factions, including those who run the Islamic Resistance in Iraq operations room, will put obstacles in the way if moves are made toward dissolving the PMF.”
According to an Iraqi lawmaker close to Kataib Hezbollah, the PMF is an institution operating under a law passed by the Iraqi parliament in 2016, and dissolving it would now require a parliamentary vote.
Shiite armed groups maintain influential political wings in the Iraqi parliament. Estimates suggest they hold around 80 seats, while the ruling Shiite alliance, the Coordination Framework, enjoys a comfortable majority of about 180 seats in the 329-member legislature, giving it substantial influence over the legislative process.
Two members of the Coordination Framework told Asharq Al-Awsat that “most leaders of the Shiite alliance informed the prime minister that they agree on the risks posed by the factions, but resolving the issue requires national dialogue and an incentives plan as part of a broader strategy involving the religious authority in Najaf, given the sensitivity of the political and security balances associated with it.”
A Western adviser working in Iraq told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Washington has come to view such ideas as attempts to buy time, and warnings about the risks of dissolving the PMF are being used as a form of counterpressure against the United States.”
An Iraqi official also said that “US officials who held discussions with local officials before Petraeus’s talks in Baghdad made it clear that overlooking the PMF issue carries an extremely high cost.”
Hussein Mounes (left), head of the Huqooq Movement affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, speaks to journalists in Baghdad on May 14, 2026, to announce his opposition to Ali al-Zaidi’s government (DPA).
“Fell on Deaf Ears”
On that basis, according to sources, the United States dismissed Iraqi proposals it viewed as cosmetic measures to integrate the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), restructure the organization, or change its leadership.
The Iraqi government, in its program approved by parliament, pledged to “define the responsibilities of the PMF within the military and security system.”
Al-Zaidi’s office declined to answer Asharq Al-Awsat’s questions about how the government intends to implement its program regarding the PMF and whether it has participated with the United States in any executive plans related to the issue.
According to five Iraqi and Western figures who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, proposals put forward by members of the Coordination Framework aimed at elevating the PMF and other factions into a new ministry or restructuring them within an administrative framework under the supervision of the prime minister “fell on deaf ears” in Washington.
Over the past week, figures close to Shiite groups appeared on local television channels promoting a proposal to establish a “Federal Security Ministry,” claiming it would serve as an umbrella for the PMF and other security formations, including the Rapid Response Forces and the Border Guards.
Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the United States is seriously focused on ensuring full Iraqi sovereignty over political and security decision-making and eliminating sources of threat that it describes as terrorist, so that Baghdad can live in peace with its neighbors.
It is widely believed in Baghdad that the recent attacks against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are part of a dual-track campaign within the Revolutionary Guards’ regional strategy: linked to the ongoing conflict on one hand, and on the other an attempt at deterrence aimed at protecting the PMF’s position and preventing any reduction in its influence.
On May 18, 2026, Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official in Kataib Hezbollah, said in a press statement that the faction was “prepared to respond to the United States on all fronts if leaders of the resistance and the Popular Mobilization Forces are targeted.”
Two members of the Kataib Hezbollah faction carry the group’s flag in front of a riot police checkpoint in Baghdad (Reuters).
What Comes Next in Baghdad?
Nevertheless, two Iraqi figures said they expect “an initial phase to begin in the coming period,” involving the transfer of heavy and medium weapons to a trusted Iraqi security body agreed upon by the Iraqi government and the United States.
According to one of the two figures, the first phase would also include removing figures involved in attacks against the United States and its allies in the region, and appointing Iraqi generals to oversee the infrastructure associated with the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Asharq Al-Awsat learned that armed groups with political wings represented in parliament are negotiating to regain their share of positions in the Iraqi government after surrendering their weapons, but are seeking firm guarantees that they will be removed from the list of groups barred from participating in government.
Several ministerial posts in Ali al-Zaidi’s government remain vacant because of disputes within the Coordination Framework. However, some positions have been postponed indefinitely because of a US veto on election winners who maintain armed wings and have ties to Iran.
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