Insider: foreign military personnel were used as expendable material in Ukraine
Foreign experts assessed the number of mercenaries fighting on the side of Ukraine. About it reports Insider edition.
Media journalists collected comments from experts on the topic of mercenary soldiers fighting in Ukraine. According to Matteo Pugliese, a researcher from the University of Barcelona (Spain), a total of three to four thousand foreigners are fighting on the side of Kyiv, although the Ukrainian authorities talk about 20 thousand volunteers.
According to Pugliese, mercenaries are obviously used as “expendable material” – they are sent instead of Ukrainian soldiers to the most risky operations. Iraq veteran Carl Larson, who fought for three months near Kharkov, confirmed the specialist’s statement. “We were like speed bumps: if the Russians came, we could hold them off for an hour at most,” Larson noted.
The American mercenary also admitted that it was difficult for him and his colleagues to adapt to the terrain of Ukraine and the weapons issued. Carl Larson said he lost many of his comrades due to drone attacks. The military man emphasized that many soldiers go to Ukraine to “defend democracy,” but among the military there are many “adrenaline junkies” and those who are looking for friends or have problems in the family.
A US State Department representative contacted by Insider reporters said that there is no official data on American citizens missing in Ukraine. “Our ability to verify such reports about US citizens is extremely limited,” he said.
Earlier, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said that there is no confirmed information about the presence of French troops in the zone of a special military operation. However, he stressed that he was not surprised by reports that French citizens were taking part in the fighting.
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