The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine has said that Russia is recruiting mercenaries in Syria to take part in combat operations against Ukraine.
The training is taking place near the Syrian city of Aleppo and Kuweires airfield.
The first group - about 1,000 mercenaries - is undergoing training with an emphasis on urban warfare.
Upon completion of the training, the Syrian mercenaries will be transported to the Khmeimim airbase and from there to Russia. Upon arrival, they will be issued Russian passports and then mobilised into the Russian army.
The video shows some of the Syrians with Russian passports made in five days.
"Moscow is recruiting men in Syria, where devastation and poverty reign, including due to Russia's participation in the war in the Arab Republic, through travel agencies. Syrians are first promised jobs as security guards at oil refineries in Yakutia, and then enticed by 'better-paying jobs' in Buryatia. In Ulan-Ude, the certified mercenaries will be mobilised into the 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces (military unit 46108) and will take part in hostilities in Ukraine," the GUR said.
The GUR noted that the recruitment of Syrians for the war indicates a deterioration in the moral and psychological state of the Russian occupying forces due to large-scale losses and the need to replenish them for further "meat assaults".