Russia needs more mercenaries to go fight in Syria
SUMMARY
After a massive battle that multiple reports cite as resulting in hundreds of dead Russian military contractors, Russian job listing websites are reportedly offering more high-paid work in the "security" field.
A Ukranian website posted several screenshots from Russian job listing websites offering high-paid but vague jobs for those willing to work on "security" projects abroad, and reported that such listings have spiked sharply in February 2018, when the battle took place.
More reading: Thousands of Russian private contractors are fighting in Syria
The ads seek recruits with good physical fitness who can go on "business trips" to Ukraine or Syria for about three months. Russia stands accused of sending "little green men" or military contractors without proper Russian military uniforms or affiliation, to wage war in those two countries.
Multiple reports state that Russia's reason for using military contractors in Syria, where it is fighting against insurgents who oppose Syrian President Bashar Assad, is to conceal the true cost of the war to Russian servicemen.
But the conditions for the contractors are reportedly bleak. Hundreds of Russian mercenaries were reportedly routed in a battle with US airpower, against which they were defenseless. Alleged leaked audio from Russian paramilitary commanders captures them lamenting the unwise battle, and expressing humiliation at their sound defeat.
Also read: Russian mercenaries want revenge after getting whooped in Syria
Russian officials admit to only a few Russian nationals dying in battles, and several dozen wounded, but all other reporting of the battle portrays severe losses for the pro-government side, which many say was mostly Russian.
A Russian paramilitary official recently told France24 that he had 150 men in freezers in Syria as "minced meat," and that their mortal remains won't even be returned to their family until after Russia's presidential election in March 2018. The official, however, said that now Russian men were volunteering not for money, but for revenge.