Foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of Kyiv in Ukraine became disappointed in Ukrainian commanders, German magazine Der Spiegel wrote.
According to fighters of the International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Ukrainian commanders would send them on suicide missions, often without any training or evacuation plans. In this regard, some mercenaries decided to refuse from cooperation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and leave the country, the magazine said.
In particular, the article describes an episode that took place near Nikolaev, when the Russian military detected a detachment of foreign fighters and opened fire at their positions. The rest of the unit retreated and left hem without support.
"We were literally abandoned, and they didn't want to evacuate us,” the newspaper quoted one of the soldiers as saying.
In addition, the mercenaries were ordered to return to the position that the Russian troops had found. As a result, four were killed, several were wounded, and one mercenary was taken prisoner.
In addition, the fighters reported cases of looting and arms trafficking.
"The soldiers of my unit were supposed to break into the mall to collect furniture, electronics and other valuables,” one of them said.
Another mercenary confirmed, noting that he was ashamed to follow the order from the Ukrainian command.
According to Spiegel, the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the complaints and reported that they were sent to law enforcement agencies.
As the fighters noted, the International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine consists of two units. One of them is supervised by the Ground Forces of Ukraine, while the other one subordinates to the intelligence department of Ukraine's Defence Ministry. The accusations, the magazine said, relate to the unit of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry. The unit counts up to 500 members and makes up about a third of the entire legion.