Hezbollah Denies Having Forces Fighting For Russia In Ukraine
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has denied reports that any of its forces are fighting alongside Russians in the invasion of Ukraine.
Nasrallah made the remarks on Friday after General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine released a statement saying that around 1,000 fighters from the Iran-backed group and Syria were recruited to fight in Ukraine.
“I categorically deny anything of these claims. These claims are lies that are devoid of truth. No one from Hezbollah, no fighter or military expert, went to this arena or any of the arenas of these war,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Al Mayadeen TV.
Hezbollah is believed to have experts and advisors helping Iranian proxies and militias in Iraq and Houthis in Yemen. The Shiite group has also fought in the Syrian civil war for a decade alongside Bashar al Assad's forces.
On March 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved deploying up to 16,000 “volunteers” from the Middle East to fight alongside Russian forces.
"If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbass, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone," Putin said at a televised security council meeting from the Kremlin.
