EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Ukrainian Special Forces and Syrian Rebels Decimate Russian Mercenaries in Syria

Exclusive videos obtained by Kyiv Post from sources within Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) show Ukrainian special forces and Syrian rebels destroying Russian mercenaries in Syria. The video is dated March 2024.

The HUR special squad “Khimik,” in collaboration with the Syrian opposition, is attacking Russian mercenaries fighting alongside the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.  

Active combat is ongoing in the southern part of the country, particularly in the Golan Heights, where Russian forces are currently concentrated.

According to a Kyiv Post source in HUR, since the beginning of the year, the rebels, supported by Ukrainian operatives, have inflicted numerous strikes on Russian military facilities represented in the region by the so-called “grouping of forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Syrian Arab Republic.”

The source, who spoke to Kyiv Post on condition of anonymity, stated that constant attacks are being carried out on enemy checkpoints, strongholds, foot patrols, military vehicle columns, and other targets.

These attacks include the use of rocket-propelled grenades and improvised “Tarab” mortars to attack defensive positions and what appears to be command wire or radio-controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs) attack vehicles, including a minibus traveling at high speed along a main road, as well as enemy foot patrols.

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What are Ukrainian special forces doing in Syria?

Russia's intervention in Syria in 2015, initially aimed at supporting President Assad’s regime, during the civil war, has led to a permanent deployment of thousands of Russian troops there.

Moscow relocated some troops and equipment from Syria to the Ukrainian battlefield last autumn of 2022, potentially making their troops in Syria more vulnerable to Ukraine's attacks in the region.

At the same time, given a prolonged presence in the region, the Russians have created multiple recruitment centers for the deployment of Syrian mercenaries in Ukraine.

The recruitment of mercenaries is conducted under the supervision of the “Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Movement Control” from the Russian-occupied Khmeimim Air Base.

There, mercenaries are issued Russian passports and then mobilized into the Russian Armed Forces.

In May 2023, HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov vowed to “destroy Russian war criminals anywhere in the world, wherever they are.”

In addition to Syria, Ukrainian HUR special forces continue their hunt for pro-Kremlin Wagner PMC mercenaries in Sudan.

The previous exclusive video, obtained by Kyiv Post in February, shows Ukrainian special forces interrogating captured Russian mercenaries from the Wagner PMC in the Republic of Sudan.

Further footage shows a Ukrainian operator interrogating a Russian-speaking prisoner. He confesses to being part of a group of Wagner PMC mercenaries that were sent to Sudan to overthrow the local government in the video.