Update on the Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 16 of Russia's invasion

LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the deployment of up to 16,000 Middle Eastern volunteers in Ukraine to fight alongside Russian-backed rebels, doubling down on an invasion that the West fears is losing steam.

Russia may now deploy battle-hardened mercenaries from battlefields like Syria without risking more Russian military casualties just over two weeks after Putin ordered the assault.

"If you see that these individuals want to come to Donbass on their own choice, not for money," Putin said from the Kremlin, "then we need to give them what they want and help them go to the fighting zone."

Shoigu also urged for Donbass forces to be handed over. Javelin and Stinger produced in the United States

"Please do this," he instructed Shoigu. The exchange was carried on Russian state television.

Putin said the "special military operation" in Ukraine is necessary to maintain Russia's security after the US expanded NATO up to Russia's borders and supported pro-Western administrations in Kyiv.

Ukraine maintains it is fighting for survival, while the United States and its European and Asian allies have condemned Russia's incursion. Restraint is something China has emphasized.

Shoigu stated that the operation was operating according to plan before getting Putin's agreement for the deployment of Middle Eastern fighters.

On Thursday, US intelligence officials testified before Congress that Russia was surprised by the strength of the Ukrainian opposition, which had denied the Kremlin a quick victory that would have precluded the US and NATO from giving major military aid.support from the military

According to William Burns, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, this is causing concern in Beijing.

Burns continued, "I believe the Chinese leadership, notably President Xi (Jinping), is uneasy." "Partly because his own intelligence doesn't appear to have warned him about what was about to happen," the author explains.

Shoigu stated that Western arms were going into Ukraine "totally uncontrollably," and that the Russian military was preparing to beef up its Western frontier in reaction to what he called a "build-up" of Western military formations on Russia's border.

"The general staff is working on, and has almost finished, a plan to fortify our Western borders, which includes, of course, new contemporary complexes," Shoigu said.

Putin stated that the question of how to react to NATO moves should be considered separately.