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Russian diplomat says Kiev still recruiting foreign mercenaries

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, US private military companies have been recruiting mercenaries for Ukraine

MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. Ukraine is still recruiting foreign mercenaries, even though their number halved by early June, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

"The Kiev regime is still recruiting foreign mercenaries to fill up the thinning ranks of Ukrainian troops," Maria Zakharova said at a news conference. She cited Russian Defense Ministry data showing more than 6,500 soldiers from the US, the UK, Israel, Poland, Canada, the Czech Republic and even Brazil and South Korea have been recruited.

Afghan refugees and Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) terrorists who have survived the operation in Syria are being most actively recruited, the Russian diplomat said. US private military companies have been recruiting mercenaries for Ukraine, she added.

However, nobody’s considering any sanctions against US private military companies, the Russian diplomat said, pointing to the OSCE, the Council of Europe and European parliaments.

"NATO has been keeping a happy silence. They think the war should go on in Ukraine," Zakharova said, accusing the West of ignoring crimes against humankind. She also pledged that the actions on the part of the West "will be given a proper assessment in terms of international law."

The foreign ministry spokeswoman emphasized that the West had been making attempts to both support president Vladimir Zelensky’s regime in Ukraine and get rid of its own extremists, slamming the goals as flawed.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova

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