Russia claims West reluctant to answer about its mercenaries fighting in Ukraine

As the ravaging war in Ukraine continues to escalate, the Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that western nations are unwilling to respond to Moscow's questions over their mercenaries in Kyiv. "Western countries are writing some provocative, boorish things. They don’t want to answer the question we ask about their activities," Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Rossiya-1 television channel, the TASS news agency reported. She stated this upon being asked whether the United Kingdom and the United States have contacted Russia concerning their nationals who are participating in the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Zakharova also accused the West of making every effort to prolong the situation in Ukraine. "We remember what US 43rd President George Bush Jr said: Ukraine’s mission is to kill as many Russians as possible... They have endowed Ukraine and the Kyiv regime with this duty. They are using Ukraine as an instrument and the entire logistics are centred around that - weapons supplies, sending people, anything to keep the conflict burning," she added. 

Ukrainian forces killing foreign mercenaries in Lysychansk & Severodonetsk: LPR militia

Meanwhile, Lugansk People’s Republic’s (LPR) militia claimed that Ukrainian groups of forces that remain in Lysychansk and Severodonetsk have been killing foreign mercenaries. "Ukrainian militants have been ordered to kill foreign instructors in Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, as the latter have certain information about the activity of foreign special services in Donbass so that they do not get captured and disclosed this information," a source close to LPR militia told TASS. Meanwhile, last week, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Americans captured in Ukraine were "mercenaries" engaged in illegal activities and should take responsibility for their crimes. His statement came after two Americans were detained in the pro-Russian region of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). 

Foreign mercenaries in Ukraine will face criminal charges: Russia

Earlier this month, the Russian Defence Ministry stated that foreign mercenaries in Ukraine are not fighters and will face criminal charges. Major General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the Russian Defence Ministry, claimed that mercenaries wish to leave Ukraine due to the severe casualties inflicted during the course of the war, but the Kyiv regime has not allowed them to do so. On June 2, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed that the number of foreign combatants in Ukraine has dropped from 6,600 to around 3,500 as of now. 

Image: AP