Putin welcomes foreign ‘volunteers,’ most from Middle East, to reinforce troops in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on March 11. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin Pool/Sputnik/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday approved recruiting foreign “volunteers” to reinforce the Russian military’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

“If you see that there are people who want to come voluntarily, especially free of charge, and help people living in the Donbas, you need to meet them halfway and help them move to the war zone,” Putin told his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, during a televised Russian Security Council meeting Friday.