Ukraine war: Syrian barrel bomb experts drafted in to help Putin’s forces

Vladimir Putin has drafted in feared Syrian barrel bomb specialists to aid in Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine, according to reports.

The bombs have been used to devastating effect in the 10-year Syrian civil war, with evidence suggesting that Bashar al-Assad’s forces using them to kill thousands of civilians and destroy vast swathes of towns and cities.

According to The Guardian, intelligence officers have said more than 50 experts in the creation and deployment of crude explosives travelled to Russia weeks ago to work along-side officials in Moscow’s armies.

It is understood that the arrival of the specialists was one of the main reasons behind both the United States and European countries warning that chemical weapons could be used in the conflict in Ukraine.

Barrel bombs are drums packed with crude explosives and shrapnel, which tend to be dropped from a helicopter. The bombs typically weigh anywhere between 300kg to 600kg and, despite their DIY nature, can destroy everything in a 800ft radius.

As well as explosives, al-Assad’s regime was also accused of filling canisters with deadly chemicals, such as chlorine, and dropping them on towns and cities held by opposition forces, killing hundreds and sparking human rights abuse allegations.

Al-Assad has denied that his forces ever used such weapons.

In 2014, Human Rights Watch said it documented 650 sites where it was suspected barrel bombs were dropped in Aleppo alone. In 2020, Amnesty International said barrel bomb attacks had killed more than 11,000 civilians since 2012.

Human Rights Watch reported scenes that were different to conventional bombings, finding larger, irregular-sized craters.

Barrel bombs proved particularly effective for al-Assad’s military in pushing the rebels back during the 10 years of war in Syria, largely down to the fact that the government had air capabilities while the rebels did not.

In Ukraine, this is not the case. Kyiv’s forces are armed with an array of anti-aircraft missiles that can shoot down helicopters and fighter jets, which has prevented Russian from every winning air superiority.

Speaking to The Guardian, one European official said that this has likely acted as a deterrent, and could be the reason barrel bombs have not yet been seen in Ukraine.

‘We know the capacity is there, but if they use it, they lose; we will know who’s done it, and they will likely be killed anyway,’ the anonymous official told the newspaper.

While barrel bombs don’t appear to have been in Ukraine so far, it would not be uncharacteristic of Putin to deploy such weapons to advance his military objectives in a war that has already claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians.

Putin’s forces have been accused of carrying out several war crimes in Ukraine since the Russian president ordered his forces across the border on February 24.

In one case, a Russian missile strike hit a theatre in Mariupol being used as a shelter by hundreds of civilians. It is believed as many as 600 were killed.

There have also been reports of Russia using cluster bombs and munitions, that are banned under international law by a 2008 treaty, although it was not signed by Russia or Ukraine.

It was reported in April that hundreds of Russian-trained Syrian fighters have signed up to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine.

These include Syrian soldiers, former rebels and experienced fighters who fought for years against the Islamic State group in Syria’s desert.

By April, only a small number appeared to have arrived in Russia for military training ahead of deployment on the front lines.

Although Kremlin officials boasted early in the war of more than 16,000 applications from the Middle East, U.S. officials and activists monitoring Syria said in April there had not yet been significant numbers of fighters from the region joining the war.

As Russia shifted its focus to the east of Ukraine after being pushed back from Kyiv, Putin named General Alexander Dvornikov, who commanded the Russian military in Syria, as the new war commander in Ukraine.

Though some question how effective Syrian fighters would be in Ukraine, they could be brought in if more forces are needed to besiege cities or to make up for rising casualties.

Dvornikov is well acquainted with the multiple paramilitary forces in Syria trained by Russia while he oversaw the strategy of ruthlessly besieging and bombarding opposition-held cities in Syria into submission.

Among the fighters to sign up to fight in Ukraine were members of Brig. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan, Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said last month.

Around 700 members of al-Hassan’s 25th Special Missions Forces Division, known in Syria as the ‘Tiger Force,’ left Syria to fight along Russian forces, Abdurrahman said. The numbers could not be independently confirmed.

Pro-government activists posted videos over the past two weeks on social media showing members of the Tiger Force performing military drills including parachuting from helicopters.

Russian officers appeared in one of the videos advising the paratroopers inside a helicopter as al-Hassan praised the young men by tapping on their heads. It was not immediately clear if the videos were new.

Abdurrahman said there are also volunteers from the Russian-trained 5th Division; the Baath brigades, which is the armed wing of Assad’s ruling Baath party; and the Palestinian Quds Brigade, made up of Palestinian refugees in Syria. All have fought alongside the Russian military in Syria’s war.

‘The Russians are looking for experienced fighters. They don’t want anyone who was not trained by the Russians,’ Abdurrahman said.

The Tiger Force took credit for some of the biggest government victories in the 11-year conflict. 

It was involved in a monthslong Russian-backed campaign into the rebels’ last enclave, located in the northwest province of Idlib, which ended in March 2020 with government forces capturing a vital north-south highway – though rebels remain in control of the enclave.

Al-Hassan ‘is one of Russia’s men and Russia will depend on him,’ said Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who runs the DeirEzzor 24, a Syria war monitoring group.

Hundreds of fighters from the 5th Division and the Quds Brigade have registered at Russia’s Hmeimeem base in western Syria, which is leading recruitment efforts, and are waiting for orders, he said.

In late March, a Russian-trained force known as the ‘ISIS Hunters’ militia, which fought for years against IS, posted an ad calling on men aged 23 to 49 to come forward for screening, saying those who pass the test and are found suitable will be called on later.

Reports said men were promised a monthly income of no less than $600, a huge sum of money amid widespread unemployment and the crash of the Syrian pound.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said last month the U.S. had indications that the Wagner Group is trying to recruit fighters, mostly from the Middle East, to deploy in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

But he said there has been ‘no specific information’ on numbers recruited. ‘We just aren’t there yet to see anything real demonstrable when it comes to reinforcement,’ he added.