DONETSK, February 7. /TASS/. Intelligence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic records the arrival in Donbass of militants trained by UK instructors, Kiev is forming assault teams of them, Deputy Head of the DPR People’s Militia Eduard Basurin told a briefing on Monday.
"Two units consisting of militants from the Right Sector (outlawed in Russia), each numbering 70 to 80 people, have arrived at the 54th separate mechanized and 56th separate mechanized infantry brigades. All militants have combat experience and were trained by British instructors," Basurin said.
"They are distributed among units of the 54th and 56th brigades that occupy positions in the first echelon, on the northern and western approaches to Donetsk," he stressed.
According to Basurin, the assault groups are intended for combat operations in urban areas. "The Ukrainian command is not only strengthening its grouping near the capital of the DPR, but it also forms assault teams of ideologically motivated nationalists who will have to fight in the city and carry out tasks disregarding the death of civilians," the deputy head of the DPR militias said.
Arrival of mercenaries
The DPR intelligence also received information of the arrival of Polish mercenaries in the zone of the so-called operation of the Ukrainian armed forces, Basurin said at the briefing.
"In the area of the Popasnaya community, a presence of two armed groups numbering up to twenty people in the mixed tactical uniform was noted. During additional reconnaissance, it was established that those individuals spoke Polish and arrived in order to implement tasks in the responsibility zone of the 24th mechanized brigade. Their goal is to conduct the special operations of selective guerilla and terror acts together with the units of Ukrainian forces, aimed at disabling vital and social infrastructure and intimidating the local population," he stated.
The DPR thinks that before the Ukrainian army’s offensive, the mercenaries "will try to cause as much harm as possible to civilian infrastructure facilities," in order to force the republic to undertake reciprocal measures which the Ukrainian side, trying to justify itself before the global community, will attempt to use as an excuse to launch military actions.
He said the Polish mercenaries had arrived under the guise of instructors dispatched for training Ukrainian military. He also drew attention to recent statements from Warsaw about plans to supply weapons to Kiev, noting that these statements "don’t contribute to peace and stability, but trigger an escalation of the situation and prompt Kiev to begin the genocide of the population of Donbass".
He also said that the DPR intelligence reported a large number of coronavirus cases among Kiev troops in Donbass. Due to the absence of medicines, they receive no medical treatment. "At least six military died, these facts are concealed," Basurin said.