Russian President Calls for War Volunteers

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for foreign volunteers to fight against Ukrainian forces.

President Putin, who made the call at a Russian Security Council meeting, said those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russia-backed forces should be allowed to.

The country’s Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces.

Moscow is a long-standing ally of Syria and Putin has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war.