Houthi supporters raise their machine guns during an anti-US and -Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, November 1, 2024. (Osamah Abdulrahman/AP)
Russia has recruited hundreds of men from Yemen to fight in Ukraine, the Financial Times reports, in a move that highlights growing ties between Moscow and the Iran-backed Houthis.
The Yemeni men travel to Russia, where they are forcibly drafted into the military and sent to the front lines.
Recruits tell the newspaper that they traveled to Russia under the auspices of a Houthi-backed company, and were promised employment with high salaries, and even Russian citizenship.
US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking tells the newspaper that Russia is working to increase ties with the Houthis, and that there are talks on weapons transfers.
“We know that there are Russian personnel in Sanaa helping to deepen this dialogue,” he says. “The kinds of weapons that are being discussed are very alarming, and would enable the Houthis to better target ships in the Red Sea and possibly beyond.”
Last month, it was reported that Russia provided satellite data to help Yemen’s Houthis strike ships in the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who control vast swaths of Yemen, started targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught against Israel.
Source: The Times of Israel
