HORLIVKA (DONETSK REGION), July 16 (RIA Novosti) – Foreign contractors are fighting against independence supporters in the southeast of Ukraine, Horlivka’s self-defense militia leader Ihor Bezler said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Answering the question on whether there are foreigners fighting against independence supporters, Bezler said, “Of course.”
“During the offensive on Artemovsk we removed a mark of the French Foreign Legion from the body of a killed soldier. He did not look at all like a Slav. He was an Arab,” Bezler said.
According to him, “a group that fought in Semenovka, the famous battle of ‘450 against 30’ [independence supporters] – we heard English spoken there; they used foreign weapons.” Self-defense militia also said that they seized submachine guns not used by the Ukrainian military.
Kiev authorities launched a special operation against independence supporters in the southeast of Ukraine. Moscow had labeled the move, which already led to numerous casualties, as a punitive act and urged Kiev to stop the bloodshed. Following referendums held in May, Donetsk and Luhansk the regions declared themselves independent people’s republics. In response, the Ukrainian government intensified attacks against the independence supporters on the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Authorities of the People’s Republic of Donetsk have repeatedly stated that there is evidence of Kiev’s engaging foreign contractors for its special operation in the southeast. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also suggested that Western, in particular US contractors, might be operating in Ukraine.
