As noted in the post, last spring Kyiv reported that it was assisted by 20,000 foreign servicemen from 50 states. Probably most of them returned to their homeland before the summer.
Experts believe that many of the foreigners liked posing for social media more than fighting hard. Someone also wanted to make the Call of Duty fantasy come true. Some have faced serious charges of robbery and sexual assault, or were found to be hiding from criminal prosecution in their country, the publication claims.
“It is believed that between 1,000 and 3,000 of these foreign fighters are currently operating in Ukraine, most of whom serve in three foreign legion battalions,” the newspaper notes.
Last November, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that more than 8,000 mercenaries from more than 60 countries were taking part in the fighting in Ukraine. The largest groups came from Poland, the US, Canada, Romania and Great Britain. “And this despite the fact that in many countries mercenarism is prohibited by law and prosecuted,” Zakharova said at the time.
