Russia to send ‘volunteer’ ground forces to Syria

Russian “volunteer” ground forces will join the fight in Syria, the Kremlin said on Monday, in an escalation of its military campaign there, according to The New York Times.  

Russia began airstrikes in Syria last week. Moscow said the strikes were aimed at terrorists, but they struck anti-regime groups instead of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in a bid to bolster the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. 

{mosads}A Russian ground force could further target the anti-regime groups, some of which have been trained and equipped by the U.S.

Russia’s plan for “volunteer” ground troops was disclosed Monday by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top military liaison to the Parliament, mirroring a similar move after its invasion of Ukraine in March 2014, the Times reported. 

Ground forces appear to be part of a plan to beef up Russia’s military presence in the country. Last month, Russia began sending tanks, armored personnel carriers and housing for 1,500 troops to an airfield near Latakia. 

Meanwhile, Moscow called an air incursion into NATO-member Turkey’s airspace an innocent mistake due to bad weather. 

“The pilot would have known where they were,” an American senior official told the Times. “I’m not a fighter pilot, but there was no way this was accidental. The notion that this was accidental is far-fetched.”

NATO criticized the incursion as “an unacceptable violation” of Turkish airspace. Turkey protested the action to the Russian ambassador in Ankara, warning that Russia “will be responsible for any undesired incident that may occur.” 

“Unfortunately, Russia is making a grave mistake,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters at the Istanbul airport on Sunday.