“Unfortunately, there is such information.
We published it.
That is, our intelligence said that initially it all mimicked Western instructors, ”Pushilin said.
He noted that “mercenaries were brought to the territory of Donbass, controlled by Ukraine, and carried out their activities there.”
“At a certain moment, we received information that mercenaries were already being delivered to Donbass.
Now, in principle, even President Zelensky does not hide this, ”the head of the DPR specified.
According to Pushilin, the Ukrainian president said that "according to his agreements, about 16 thousand more mercenaries from different countries should arrive in Ukraine."
The head of the DPR specified that those mercenaries who are already present on the territory of Ukraine came from Poland and Croatia.
Earlier, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, during negotiations with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said that the appearance of mercenaries from third countries and even jihadists is increasingly being recorded in Ukraine.
In addition, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, did not rule out that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had lost control over Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups (DRGs) with the participation of foreign mercenaries.
He also added that the US military intelligence launched a large-scale campaign to recruit contract soldiers from private military companies to send them to Ukraine.
On March 3, the Russian Ministry of Defense summoned the military attache of Croatia.
According to the defense department, about 200 Croatian mercenaries arrived in Ukraine.