The pro-Russian authorities of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic claimed Wednesday that the Ukrainian town of Soledar was allegedly defended by foreign battalions allied with Ukraine.
According to the Donetsk Armed Forces, the Ukrainian Army would be organizing units fully manned by foreigners, instead of mixed units, because of the loss of troops.
«The West’s idea now is to supply already well-coordinated mercenary bands, from soldiers to officers (…) In Soledar there were no longer just a couple of pickup trucks with mercenaries, but there were companies and battalions composed entirely of foreigners,» a spokesman for the pro-Russian troops has indicated to the TASS agency.
The town of Soledar, in the east of the country, was occupied by the Russian army at the end of last week, after several days of heavy fighting in which both Russia and Ukraine offered contradictory versions, without it being clear who was in full control of the town.
The Wagner Group, an alliance of mercenaries linked to the Kremlin, had already considered Soledar taken a few days ago, but Moscow had been more cautious and Kiev had directly denied the loss of the locality, where satellite images already show the effects of the destruction.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
