Tunisia Investigates Alleged Forced Recruitment of its Nationals in Ukraine War

A student (R) evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by a relative upon his arrival at the Tunis-Carthage airport on March 1, 2022. (Getty Images)
A student (R) evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by a relative upon his arrival at the Tunis-Carthage airport on March 1, 2022. (Getty Images)
TT

Tunisia Investigates Alleged Forced Recruitment of its Nationals in Ukraine War

A student (R) evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by a relative upon his arrival at the Tunis-Carthage airport on March 1, 2022. (Getty Images)
A student (R) evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by a relative upon his arrival at the Tunis-Carthage airport on March 1, 2022. (Getty Images)

Tunisia is investigating press reports claiming that a number of its nationals held in Ukrainian prisons were forcibly recruited to join the fighting against Russia in the Ukraine war, a source in the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said Monday.

“Tunisian authorities contacted Ukrainian ambassador in Tunisia (Volodymyr Khomanets) to request information about the reports, which were based on testimonies of Tunisians in Ukraine,” Director of Public Diplomacy and Information at the ministry, Mohamed Trabelsi, told the German news agency (dpa).

Trabelsi said that his country told the Ukrainian ambassador that this issue violates international law.

Khomanets assured him that the reports are false.

Tunisia’s private radio station Mosaique revealed last week an application form written in Ukrainian to be filled by Tunisian prisoners and others that allows them to take part in the fighting.

Dating back to February 25, the application is addressed to the director of prisons and detention centers and the Ukrainian presidency.

The radio obtained one such application that was signed by a Tunisian detainee. The document bears his signature and that of the director of prisons, Sergei Protsango.

Meanwhile, Tunisia said it repatriated on Monday more than 500 of its nationals in Ukraine.

A fourth evacuation flight reached the Tunis-Carthage International Airport on Monday morning coming from Romania and Poland.

“We are communicating on a daily basis with the Ukrainian ambassador to follow up on the evacuation of Tunisians,” Trabelsi said.



Kremlin Says It Wants Syria to Swiftly Restore Order after Opposition Attack

Fighters take over the district of Khan al-Assal following fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and opposition forces along with their Turkish-backed allies in the northern Syrian Aleppo province, on November 29, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Fighters take over the district of Khan al-Assal following fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and opposition forces along with their Turkish-backed allies in the northern Syrian Aleppo province, on November 29, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
TT

Kremlin Says It Wants Syria to Swiftly Restore Order after Opposition Attack

Fighters take over the district of Khan al-Assal following fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and opposition forces along with their Turkish-backed allies in the northern Syrian Aleppo province, on November 29, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Fighters take over the district of Khan al-Assal following fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and opposition forces along with their Turkish-backed allies in the northern Syrian Aleppo province, on November 29, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)

The Kremlin said on Friday it wanted the Syrian government to restore constitutional order in the Aleppo region as soon as possible after an insurgent offensive there that captured territory for the first time in years.
Russia, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, intervened militarily on Assad's side against insurgents in 2015 in its biggest foray in the Middle East since the Soviet Union's collapse, and maintains an airbase and naval facility in Syria.
Opposition led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group launched an incursion on Wednesday into a dozen towns and villages in the northwestern province of Aleppo, which is controlled by Assad's forces.
It was the first such territorial advance since March 2020 when Russia and Türkiye, which supports the opposition, agreed to a ceasefire that led to the halting of military action in Syria's last major opposition stronghold in the northwest.
Russian and Syrian warplanes bombed an opposition-held area near the border with Türkiye on Thursday to try to push back the insurgents, Syrian army and opposition sources said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow regarded the attack as a violation of Syria's sovereignty and wanted the authorities to act fast to regain control.
"As for the situation around Aleppo, it is an attack on Syrian sovereignty and we are in favor of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible," said Peskov.
Asked about unconfirmed Russian Telegram reports that Assad had flown into Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Peskov said he had "nothing to say" on the matter.