- Sputnik International, 1920, 25.02.2022
Russia's Special Operation in Ukraine
On February 24, 2022 Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev's forces.

'This Was S***': German Merc Warns About Chilling Reality of Fighting in Ukraine

© AFP 2023 / GENYA SAVILOVUkrainian servicemen attend a training exercise in the Donetsk region on April 7, 2023
Ukrainian servicemen attend a training exercise in the Donetsk region on April 7, 2023 - Sputnik International, 1920, 04.05.2023
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Thousands of foreigners serving in the ranks of the Ukrainian Army have been killed, with thousands more fleeing the conflict zone after realizing that fighting a conventional army with artillery and air support is not the same as taking on shoeless militias in a developing nation. Many have gone on to offer words of warning to comrades in arms.
A German soldier-turned-mercenary who fled Ukraine after witnessing and experiencing extensive corruption, lies and war crimes first hand has offered a message of warning to others considering a stint in the conflict.

"The Bundeswehr is a lot more professional than the Ukrainian Army. One can criticize the German military for many things, but command in Germany is run at a very high level," Bundeswehr vet Jonas Kratzenberg, who completed four years of service with the German Army, including service in Afghanistan, before volunteering to fight in Ukraine in 2022, told media in a piece published Wednesday.

"The Ukrainians are the opposite, and are more flexible and inventive in their decisions, for example, in the use of weapons. There is also a lot of corruption, and some units lack the will to improve their self-organization," he said.
Kratzenberg, who spent nine months in Ukraine before a drone strike left him with shrapnel wounds all over his body and ended his tour, served in Kiev's infamous International Legion, and said he felt a noticeable difference in Ukrainian command's treatment of foreigners and Ukrainian units.

"The International Legion treated us volunteers much worse. Many of us were poorly paid or not paid at all. It was hard for us to defend ourselves because we could not speak Russian or Ukrainian. However, my unit was not wiped out. After the first losses, we were mostly sent to areas that were less dangerous. But I also saw footage of a commander who saw volunteers only as cannon fodder," Kratzenberg said.

"Our guns were Czech, our vehicles from the US, and our grenades from Germany. But it was always not enough. Ukraine is paying for this with their lives. In the situations where I was at the front, Russia always had more supplies," he said.
A destroyed Ukrainian tank on the street in the city of Volnovakha, which came under the control of the DPR. - Sputnik International, 1920, 31.05.2022
Russia's Special Operation in Ukraine
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The 26-year-old, who volunteered to go to Ukraine because he "felt a moral obligation to help people" and thought he could "use" his "skills as a soldier," said the problems facing foreign fighters in Ukraine are little talked about in Germany because those who support Ukraine "remain silent on these issues," and that they are instead discussed mostly by those who oppose German involvement.
Kratzenberg confirmed that Ukrainian forces were committing war crimes, recalling a personal experience involving the arrest of three Russian troops and a civilian and learning that they were later executed by their Ukrainian captors.

“This was s***. You know, this happens in every army and in every war", he noted. "But purely on the human level, it’s dirty. I know that one of the two cases was later investigated. But I do not know what the consequences were."

Asked by his interviewer what he would do differently if he had a chance to relive the past year’s experiences, Kratzenberg said he "should have left the Legion much sooner," and would "trust some people less” because in Ukraine "everyone lies basically about everything."
Insignia patches of the Azov Regiment (left) and the Right Sector (right) in a secreengrab of a Russian FSB video. File photo. - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.06.2022
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"For example, when I was in the hospital, I was told that it did not have an MRI machine. After a long discussion, the device suddenly came into existence," he said. On the battlefield too, the German said, he would meet people who introduced themselves as special forces troops or snipers but actually never served. "Many of their superiors also wanted to cover up their own mistakes with lies. One even broke away from us and stole one of my guns."

Commenting on Kiev’s plans for a spring offensive, Kratzenberg said his experience showed that "successful attacks are extremely difficult. I do believe that Ukraine can gain a strategic advantage. But it’s questionable whether the offensive will end the war."
The Russian military has estimated that over 8,000 foreign mercenaries from more than 60 countries have made their way into Ukraine over the year, with the largest contingents coming from Poland, the United States, Canada, Romania and Britain.
Nearly 2,000 foreign mercs died in Ukraine by last June, according to the Russian military. The MoD has reported on additional losses among foreign volunteers since then. Polish media partially confirmed the extent of its volunteers' losses last November, with one report estimating that about 1,200 Polish mercenaries had died in fighting, and that the government has created a special, 1,700-space "American-style cemetery" in a town in northeastern Poland for the dead.
Regular Russian troops and Donbass militiamen have also reported on encountering entire units consisting of foreigners on the battlefield, adding credence to Kratzenberg’s claims of foreign troops being used as cannon fodder.
The German mercenary is the latest foreigner to come forward to speak to media and share his experiences about what fighting in Ukraine is really like. Over the past year, Sputnik has documented the disillusionment and frustration of some of the idealistic foreigners who came to Ukraine in search of adventure and cardboard cutout "bad guy Russians", only to find the death of their comrades, massive corruption by Ukrainian forces, and war crimes by their own side.
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