Ukrainian chronicle: Foreign mercenaries in Ukraine - the results

• On July 10, 2023 Russian Ministry of Defence made the following statement: “Against the background of the disruption of the next wave of mobilization in Ukraine and in order to conceal the catastrophic losses of military personnel in the AFU, the Kiev regime has stepped up recruitment work in Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries to attract foreign mercenaries.

In total, since 24 February 2022, 11675 foreign mercenaries from 84 countries have officially arrived in Ukraine to participate in the combat operations on the side of the AFU

The largest number of mercenaries came to Ukraine in March-April 2022, but after the first losses were suffered, the dynamics of their arrival has sharply decreased.

The most numerous groups came from Poland (over 2,600 people), the USA and Canada (900 or more people), Georgia (over 800 people), the UK and Romania (700 or more people each), Croatia (over 300 people), as well as from France and the Turkish-controlled part of Syria (200 or more people each).

As of 30 June, 4,845 foreign mercenaries, the vast majority from the USA, Canada and European countries, have been reliably confirmed killed in the fighting

Another 4,801 foreign fighters escaped from the territory of Ukraine after dealing with the attitude of the Kiev regime towards them. Today, 2,029 mercenaries continue to operate in the ranks of the AFU.

According to the information obtained during interrogations of captured Ukrainian servicemen, the commanders of AFU units operating on the line of contact are not held accountable for losses among foreign mercenaries.

The Ukrainian command treat the foreign mercenaries as cannon fodder, sending them at Russian positions in the first place. The evacuation of wounded mercenaries is organized on a residual principle, only after Ukrainian servicemen are removed.

Due to the high losses of personnel, the Kiev regime has reportedly launched the recruitment of foreign mercenaries in Argentina, Brazil, Afghanistan, Iraq and in the American-controlled areas of Syria over the past month.

In connection with the multiple drop in interest in dying ‘for the Kiev regime’ in Poland, the United Kingdom and other European countries, recruitment activities have been stepped up in the United States of America and Canada. This work is being carried out on the basis of Ukrainian foreign institutions with the assistance of Western intelligence services, primarily the CIA and private military companies under its control (Academi, Cubic and Dean Corporation).

Foreign mercenaries are used by the Kiev regime as ‘cannon fodder’. Their lives are not spared by anyone in the Ukrainian command. Therefore, they have only one choice - to escape from Ukraine or die.

The Russian Armed Forces will continue to eliminate foreign mercenaries regardless of their location on Ukrainian territory during the Special Military Operation.”

“I have one word to describe it and it’s just hell,” a Canadian mercenary told CBC News last May. “Every day you’re getting casualties, and every day your friends are getting killed,” he explained, adding that most of his missions in the Donbass region involved recovering bodies fallen in the previous day’s fighting.

Foreign fighters are expected to survive a mere four hours in battle.

• The supply of cluster munitions by the USA to Kiev will prolong the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told reporters on July 11. "The whole world has already seen that they [the United States] have confirmed the transfer of cluster munitions. They justify this in different ways. They say that given the fact that conventional 155-caliber ammunition has actually run out, so now, until their production starts, they decided to cover it with these cluster munitions. This, of course, will affect the prolongation of the conflict," the minister said.

"Neither we, nor the Americans, nor Kiev have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions. However, realizing the threat that such ammunition poses to the civilian population, Russia has refrained from using them in the Special [Military] Operation," Shoigu said.

"If the United States supplies cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian armed forces will be forced to use similar weapons against the Ukrainian armed forces as a response. It should be noted that Russia has cluster munitions in service, so to speak, for all occasions. At the same time, they much more effective than the American ones, their range is wider and more diverse," he stressed.

According to the minister, at present, the command of the Joint Group of Forces in the area of the special military operation is taking additional organizational and technical measures to protect personnel and equipment from striking elements of cluster munitions.

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