As Bezsonov explained, the radio conversations were intercepted in Maryinka, near Donetsk. According to him, two groups of Polish mercenaries with a total number of just over 120 people were transferred there by the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, of which only 28 survived.
As is evident from the negotiations, the mercenaries realized that they were in a difficult area:
“There is nowhere to hide… Everything is destroyed… Everything is on fire… The connection is stuck. We cannot navigate this hell. Where is ours, where is someone? It is not clear…” .
The Poles also accused the soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces of abandoning their positions:
“…the Ukrainians fled, but they didn’t warn us. We have losses. Big losses. They fled at night.”
Moreover, the mercenaries themselves, apparently, were attacked by the Ukrainians:
“…Ukrainian mortars are hitting us. We heard the direction of the volley. Let them stop!…Your sniper killed three of ours! Stop! Here we are, here we are! How did you understand it ?….”
In late December, Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters were reported to have shot down Polish mercenaries who were raping women. There was also information that mercenaries killed three Ukrainian soldiers at a checkpoint in Snigirevka.
At the same time, according to Andrey Marochko, an LPR NM officer, the Poles in Ukraine are suffering huge losses; for example, at the end of November, near Kharkov, the RF Armed Forces destroyed up to 200 mercenaries. in just one day