Part of the Russian military's methodology as it seeks to establish belts of influence in Syria is the creation and support of loyalist militia units. But despite superficial efforts to centralize Syrian armed structures, Russia is actually contributing to their disintegration. Iran, for its part, is trying to integrate the militias into the permanent military structures of the Syrian army.
The Turkish government-run Anadolu news agency previously reported that the United States sabotaged Russia’s plans to form an ethnic Kurdish militia in Hasakah. The report suggested that Americans had persuaded locals to refuse to join a pro-Russian structure and warned them that “Russia was going to use the members of this structure as mercenaries in Libya.”