The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation summoned the military attache of Croatia due to the presence of mercenaries in Ukraine
The official representative of the Ministry of Defense of Russia Igor Konashenkov said that the US military intelligence has launched "an agitation campaign to recruit mercenaries who will be sent to Ukraine." President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that the first of 16 thousand foreign volunteers "are going to defend our freedom." "Newspaper.Ru" figured out who it could be.
"The US military intelligence has launched a large-scale propaganda campaign to recruit PMC contractors to be sent to Ukraine. First of all, employees of the American PMCs Akedemi, Kubik and Dean Corporation are being recruited," Vladimir Konashenkov said at a briefing.
Konashenkov added that the Russian Defense Ministry had summoned Croatia's military attache. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, mercenaries from this country have arrived in Ukraine. "Only last week, about 200 mercenaries from Croatia arrived through Poland, who joined one of the nationalist battalions in the south-east of Ukraine. Today, the defense attache at the Croatian Embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Defense Ministry," Konashenkov said.
Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky announced the creation of the "International Legion of Defense", which foreigners are invited to join. In addition, Zelensky announced the introduction of a visa-free regime for those foreigners who express a desire to fight on the side of official Kiev.
"Ukraine is already meeting foreign volunteers who are coming to our country, the first of 16 thousand are going to defend our freedom," Zelensky said in a video message.
A number of European media reported that citizens of Great Britain, France, the USA and several other countries allegedly expressed a desire to join the ranks of the Ukrainian army. The day before, the Latvian Seimas allowed its citizens to serve in the Ukrainian troops.
However, not all Western governments are ready to allow their citizens to leave for Ukraine to participate in military operations.
Thus, the French TV channel TF1 Info reported that 14 soldiers of Ukrainian origin from the Foreign Legion were detained in France. They are suspected of trying to join the conflict in Ukraine. It is reported that now there are 700 soldiers of Ukrainian origin in the Foreign Legion of France. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, a protocol has been in effect: they can go on vacation to visit their family in the border areas of neighboring countries with Ukraine, but they should not return to their homeland.
At the same time, earlier, the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom, Liz Truss, said that the British authorities support the call of the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, for foreigners to come to Ukraine and "fight with Russia."
According to the Japanese newspaper "Sankei", the staff of the Ukrainian diplomatic department in Japan deleted the message about the admission of Japanese citizens wishing to participate in hostilities in Ukraine to the Ukrainian "International Legion of Defense".
However, the German authorities do not plan to prevent the departure of citizens to participate in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. Its citizens can go to the conflict zone and participate in it both on the side of Ukraine and on the side of Russia. Upon their return to Germany, they will not be prosecuted. This was reported by the Tagesspiegel newspaper with reference to the response of the German Ministry of Justice. The publication notes that the authorities intend to "prevent the departure of extremists from the country to Ukraine."
"Foreign mercenaries or, if you like, volunteers are an ideal option for Kiev, but it is unlikely to be implemented. Naturally, many countries do not want to send mercenaries. Because, although they are not state soldiers, they are citizens of their countries: in case of their capture, a situation may arise when a country will have to turn to Russia to rescue them from captivity. They don't want that," he told the newspaper.Ru" Program Director of the Valdai Club, Professor of MGIMO and RAS Oleg Barabanov.
He stressed that it is hardly possible to impose a total ban and "those radicals who want to participate in these events will find a way to get to Ukraine, from Europe - for sure."
- the expert believes.
According to the former head of the 4th Directorate of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Rear Admiral Mikhail Chekmasov, the attempt to attract foreigners is evidence that the situation is becoming "increasingly dangerous and critical" for the AFU.
He stressed that mercenaries are paid much more than regular army soldiers. "Mercenaries and volunteers are needed when their forces are not enough. It turns out that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are no longer able to fight, and at the same time Kiev is calling for mercenaries who are going to pay many times more," Chekmasov believes.
Irina Alshayeva
