SOLEDAR /DPR/. August 15. /TASS/. Units comprised of foreign mercenaries - mainly from Poland - fight for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Soledar direction, while Ukrainian units are almost entirely absent, says commander of a "S.K.I.F." Cossack volunteer special reconnaissance battalion, call sign "Stavr."
"Our Soledar swath of the frontline is almost 2 km [long]. Across are mostly Poles. Our scouts infiltrate the enemy, hear Polish, English speech. There are few Ukrainians, mostly Poles. The vehicles are all NATO-made, there are almost none [Soviet and Russian-made] ones. There are a lot of foreign-made weapons - English, Polish drones, mortars. They are lightweight, easy to carry, they cause us a lot of trouble - it’s a long-range, precise weapon," he told TASS.
He added that the positions of Russian forces are located just about 300 meters away from the enemy.
"They try to pass constantly, they dig saps, they try to approach at a grenade’s throw distance. We see them, we hear them, we hit them," Stavr noted. According to the commander, enemy casualties are measured in hundreds.
"We distract enemy forces from other directions. Casualties on our swath are minimal, we seek to observe all safety measures, we exercise utmost caution," Stavr added.
Another battalion serviceman, call sign "Varyag" told TASS that the enemy often uses prohibited weapons, including cluster munitions. However, Russian positions are well-fortified; even if the enemy manages to capture one point, the threat is being neutralized promptly.
"It is a matter of 3 to 5 days. Then, [the enemy] gets shut off and ground down," he said.