KURSK, October 21. /TASS/. The US private military company (PMC) Forward Observation Group (FOG) pulled its employees from this area in the first week of fighting in the Kursk Region, later returning small forces, the commander of the Akhmat special forces unit with a call sign Aid (Hades) told TASS.
"In the first week [of hostilities] Forward Observation Group withdrew its mercenaries from here altogether because the blitzkrieg plan failed. Poles, Georgians, they are here as part of Ukraine's foreign legion. Although, judging by the foreign speech, things are not so smooth for them either," Aid said.
He specified that later the PMC brought back only a small force.
The commander also noted that Ukrainian mercenary units do not serve as assault squads, but rather they work as barrage detachments, sabotage and reconnaissance groups, and snipers.
"To begin with, foreigners do not act as storm troopers. They perform the functions of sabotage and reconnaissance groups, snipers, mop-up teams, barrage detachments. The foreigners do not engage in direct combat, no. It is Ukrainians who are intentionally driven to attack. And [the foreign fighters] themselves are stationed somewhere farther away. Mop-ups of settlements, barrage detachments, sabotage groups, snipers - this is what they are about," Aid said.
On August 6, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a massive attack on Russia’s Kursk region. A federal emergency is in effect in the region. Borderline area residents are evacuating to safe places. As the Russian Defense Ministry reported, Kiev has lost more than 25,000 troops since the start of hostilities in the Kursk frontline area. The operation to destroy Ukrainian forces in the borderline Kursk Region continues.