3 Mar, 2022 14:46
The first of some
16,000 fighters have already arrived, the Ukrainian president has said
Some 16,000 foreign
“volunteers” are heading for Ukraine to fight against Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday. The militants are coming as the country continues to receive lavish military aid from abroad, he added.
“Ukraine continues to receive weaponry on a daily basis from our partners, from real friends. And the weapons are more and more powerful every day,” Zelensky said in a taped address shared on social media.
Earlier, Ukraine announced the creation of an International Legion of Territorial Defense, a state-backed paramilitary unit meant
for foreign fighters to join.
Several European countries have already said they would not prevent their citizens from traveling to fight in Ukraine.
International volunteers and alleged mercenaries have long been involved in the conflict in Ukraine’s east, where Kiev’s troops faced off against the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. A week before Moscow launched its offensive against Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it had observed an increase in mercenary hiring, alleging that the foreign fighters were bound for Donbass to prop up Ukraine’s military and target Russia elsewhere.
“There’s information that mercenaries from Kosovo, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are being recruited to be transported to Donbass, and other nations, in order to destabilize Russia. We’re checking that,” Lavrov told RT back then.
Russia launched its large-scale military operation in neighboring Ukraine last week, arguing it was the only option left to protect Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as outlining goals to
“denazify” and
“demilitarize” the country. Kiev branded the attack
“unprovoked,” stressing that it has had no plans to retake the regions by force. Donetsk and Lugansk split from Ukraine back in 2014 following the Maidan events in Kiev that ousted the country’s government.
Russia’s president has announced financial support measures for troops and gave an update on current state of military conflict
Families of Russian soldiers who died in the line of duty in Ukraine are set to receive compensation of over seven million rubles ($65,000) from the government, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. Putin made the pledge during a meeting with the members of the country’s Security Council.
The leader has also refuted claims circulated by some media outlets that the payouts amount only to 11,000 rubles ($100). Those who were wounded are eligible for a lump sum of three million rubles ($28,000), while servicemen with permanent disabilities will receive lifetime pensions from Russia, according to the president.
The
offensive is proceeding strictly according to its “schedule,” Putin stressed, while admitting certain issues were experienced during the military operation. For instance, the
Russian military has established safe corridors for Ukrainian civilians to escape the combat zone, yet local “neo-Nazi” forces and foreign “mercenaries” have been trying to prevent them from leaving, he said.
“Nationalist and neo-Nazi groups, foreign mercenaries, including those from the Middle East, are using civilians as human shields,” Putin stated.
“As I’ve already said, there is absolutely objective data, photos of how they place heavy military equipment in residential areas of cities.” [e.g. see image below]
Russia’s president also reiterated his stance on Ukraine, and the goal of protecting it from the far-right groups that have seized control in the country.
“Russians and Ukrainians are one nation, I will never give that up,” he stressed.
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