Russian leader Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is aware of the presence of Western mercenaries in Ukraine, the foreign contingent will be in the target zone of the Russian Armed Forces.
“As for the fact that there may be or are mercenaries in Ukraine, yes we know about it well. There is nothing new here. The fact that the military in Ukraine are now saying that they may appear, they have been there for a long time. We hear English speech on the air, then French, Polish. We know that they are there,” Putin said during a press conference following his visit to Uzbekistan.
The head of state pointed out that there were also military instructors on Ukrainian territory under the guise of mercenaries.
“But under the guise of mercenaries, specialists are there. There was a question about long-range precision weapons. And who controls these weapons there? Who is serving him? Of course, these very instructors under the guise of mercenaries,” the Russian leader added.
The president stressed that the foreign contingent that is present in Ukraine will be in the strike zone of the Russian Armed Forces.
“If they are there, they will also be in the strike zone of our Armed Forces,” Putin said.
The Russian leader also added that the Poles would not be able to leave Ukraine if they enter the country with a contingent.
“As for the various contingents, I have already talked about this. That’s where the Polish authorities say they are ready to send their contingents. ‘We hear Polish speech, there are many mercenaries from Poland there. ‘If some contingents of European countries go in together with the Poles, others will leave, the Poles will never leave. This is an obvious thing. For me, at least for sure. Maybe I am wrong, but it is unlikely. It is unlikely,” the head of state concluded.
We shall remind you that earlier the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitriy Medvedev, commented on the statements by Western countries about the establishment of a NATO mission in Ukraine. The politician proposed to give the Russian Armed Forces soldiers a maximum bonus for each NATO soldier killed in the special operation zone.
