DONETSK, November 6. /TASS/. The number of foreigners in the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces is such that they not only command, but also personally work in firing positions, Lieutenant Colonel of the People's Militia and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) lawmaker Andrey Bayevsky told TASS.
"The number of foreigners who masquerade as mercenaries is such that they are no longer just serving as top commanders in Ukrainian formations, but are working directly in firing positions. In the case of [US-made multiple launch rocket systems] HIMARS and guided weapons, this is practically the rule. Today it is practically becoming a system," the lawmaker said.
He added that previously foreigners in the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces "used to disguise themselves somehow, but today they do not aspire to do so."
"We can see video and hear radio intercepts, they themselves post this video. What's their message? ‘The whole world is with us.’ That's what we see on social media videos of blacks near howitzers in Donbass. The level of those people who were mobilized from the Ukrainian side and brought in to work with Western weapons is that of an ordinary troop member. I am not even sure that they will be allowed to operate the HIMARS, they are powerless servants and nothing more," Baevsky noted.
He explained that the Ukrainian army was still operating according to the Soviet model, they were trying to improve their efficiency at the expense of weapons supplied through NATO, but this is done with the involvement of specialists from the West, because the Ukrainian military can use any sophisticated Western weapons systems only if they have trained people.
"So when we say that Russia and, in particular, the DPR and LPR (the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics - TASS) are at war with the West, this is not just a figure of speech. Earlier it was the involvement of Western specialists at the level of military planning and control of their execution in brigades, regiments, sometimes descending to battalions. Now it is the direct involvement, under the guise of mercenaries, of Western military specialists in the area of air defense from the Ukrainian side. This also applies to special operations forces and any high-tech or technically complex type of weapons supplied by the West," Baevsky stressed.