- 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.

Baptism by Fire: Former Ukrainian Soldiers Survive First Fight in Russian Army

© Sputnik / Alexey Maishev / Go to the mediabankA Russian serviceman is seen in the southern sector in the course of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, at the unknown location
A Russian serviceman is seen in the southern sector in the course of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, at the unknown location - Sputnik International, 1920, 28.12.2023
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Ex-Ukrainian soldiers have been incorporated into the opposing side's Kaskad operational-combat tactical group after receiving Russian citizenship. They were previously part of the Kiev forces but laid down their weapons and expressed their desire to fight for Moscow.
Former Ukrainian soldiers from the Bogdan Khmelnitsky battalion have undergone their first battle as part of the Russian Armed Forces, serviceman Kirill Spassky from the detachment told Sputnik.
“[We] endured the first fight with dignity – we didn’t retreat or run, we stormed forward. When [we] reached positions, we entrenched there and had another round of fight. After [we] entrenched, enemy birdies [Ukrainian drones] came. I had an anti-drone gun. I downed two birdies, then they started a mortar attack – with mines, with AGS [grenade launcher] – and I had no opportunity to use my gun anymore, so being in charge, I ordered a retreat,” he said.
Ukrainian soldiers sit in a pickup truck at their position on the frontline close to Bakhmut, - Sputnik International, 1920, 26.12.2023
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Spassky, a former Ukrainian soldier, voluntarily laid down his weapons and surrendered to the Russian Army, believing that Russians and Ukrainians are one nation. He was wounded during his first sortie against Ukrainian forces, but stayed in charge and cared about his men until they safely returned to Russian positions.
Earlier Sputnik reported that former Ukrainian soldiers who wish to fight alongside Russia will be united into one battalion named after Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Khmelnitsky was a Ukrainian warlord and politician (hetman) in the 17th century who started a national uprising against occupation by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and reunited with Moscow, believing Ukraine to be a part of the Russian Tsardom.
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The fighters from the Bogdan Khmelnitsky battalion believe that their people can prosper only as a part of Russia and say that Ukrainians virtually became hostages of Volodymyr Zelensky and his cronies.
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