Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine: 84 foreigners are investigated for participation in separatist groups
Since 2014, in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, 84 foreigners have participated in illegally armed groups with 64 of them being citizens of the Russian Federation, as reported on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office.
It was established that the foreigners were registered as part of Prizrak (Ghost) battalion of the separatist LPR.
"These foreigners are mercenaries under the auspices of the organization, United Continentale, which professes, among other things, a pro-Russian policy. The founder and coordinator of the Prizrak group is a Russian citizen named Markov," the report says.
United Continentale is a far-right geopolitical movement, created in the summer of 2014 in Belgrade (Serbia). The organization maintains constant contact with the leaders of the Russian "International Eurasian Movement," and was involved in the creation of international brigades during military operations in eastern Ukraine.
During the pre-trial investigation, the identities of foreign mercenaries (citizens of France, Serbia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, and Spain) were established. It was noted that these individuals are systematically undergoing training at military bases in Rostov-on-Don.
"In particular, a citizen of France, Guillaume Cuvelier, took an active part in military operations against Ukraine in 2014 as a member of the illegally armed groups Prizrak and Vostok, and in 2015 as part of the Vsevelikoe Voisko Donskoe group. Presently, Cuvelier is allegedly enlisted in military service under a contract with the US Army. This is currently being verified by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office," the Prosecutor General's Office said.
On June 24th in the Luhansk region, Ukrainian Armed Forces killed two and captured four saboteurs. Among the dead was the commander of a subversive group, a cadre Russian officer, Alexander Shcherbak, and among the prisoners, contract serviceman Victor Ageyev. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ageyev was not an active serviceman and was dismissed a year ago.
Two years ago, Russia behaved in a similar way regarding the capture of Special Forces servicemen, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Erofeyev. After a year of imprisonment they were exchanged for Nadiya Savchenko.