The Russian forces defeated a Ukrainian army unit near Artemovsk (Bakhmut) named after former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, one of the commanders of the Wagner PMC told Sputnik.
He displayed the the trophies taken during the fight on the southern outskirts of the city, which included a flag from a unit of the "elite" 24th Mechanized Brigade stationed in the western part of Ukraine.
"Take note, this was a unit and they were maintaining a stronghold in the woods. When they were defeated, we found this flag," the commander said.
Inscription on the flag says: 24th Mechanized Brigade, "Boris Johnson" Unit
© Sputnik
He also mentioned that the Ukrainian military often uses pro-American themes, wearing patches with US flags and so on. Ukrainian military units also relish and widely brandish names and symbols of Nazi Germany.
Captured US flag patch alongside with nazi symbolic
© Sputnik
At the same time, Kiev widely exploits the names of historical Russian figures, like Russian Prince Daniel of Galicia, who was crowned king by a papal archbishop in 1253.
The 24th Mechanized King Daniel Brigade, is stationed in the town of Yavorov, near Lvov, in Ukraine's west. It previously bore the name "the 24th Mechanized Iron Brigade "Prince Daniil of Galicia" (lately "King Daniil").
24 February 2023, 00:53 GMT
In 2005, then Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko called the 24th Brigade the best formation of the land forces. Its members took part in peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and Iraq, and in NATO's international exercises.
During the Donbass war in 2014, the 24th Brigade formed several heavy battalion tactical groups that participated in acts of aggression against the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic near Slavyansk, Krasny Liman, Kramatorsk and Lisichansk.