Foreign Troops Arrested In Ukraine, Russian Diplomat Says West Doesn't Want To Answer Questions About Mercenaries

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova. (Twitter/@mfa_russia)

JAKARTA - Russia said Western countries had not answered questions posed by it, related to the activities of foreign mercenaries caught in Ukraine, while there were US and British citizens who had been detained.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Western countries were reluctant to answer Russia's questions about their mercenaries in Ukraine.

"As (Russian Ambassador to London) (Andrey) Kelin said, they (Western countries) write some provocative and disrespectful things. They don't want to answer the questions we ask about their activities," he said in an interview on the show. Voskresny Vecher on the television channel Rossiya-1 late Sunday, when asked whether the United States and Britain had contacted Russia, about their nationals taking part in combat operations in Ukraine, reported TASS, June 27.

According to Zakharova, the West is doing its best to continue the conflict in Ukraine as long as possible.

"They are trying very hard to keep the conflict in Ukraine going as long as possible. We remember what the 43rd US President George Bush Jr. said: Ukraine's mission is to kill as many Russians as possible. They have blessed Ukraine and Kyiv with this task. They used (Ukraine) ) as an instrument and the whole logistics is centered around that, arms supplies, sending people, whatever to keep the conflict going," she added.

Two Americans, who traveled to Ukraine as volunteer fighters against Russia, have been missing for the past week, worrying their families.

Alexander Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama, last had contact with their families on June 8 and did not return from a mission around the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine. Later, Russia called the two captured and referred to them as mercenaries and not subject to prisoner-of-war status.

Earlier, two Britons and a Moroccan had been sentenced by a court under the jurisdiction of the Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk. The reason being, they are mercenaries and are not subject to the Geneva Conventions governing prisoners of war.

A court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic found two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, guilty of mercenary activities seeking to overthrow the republic.

Britain says Aslin and Pinner are regular soldiers, and should be exempt from prosecution for participating in the war, according to the Geneva Conventions.

The spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov said mercenaries and military specialists from 64 countries were involved in the war in Ukraine.

"Overall, as of June 17, 2022, we have a list of mercenaries and weapons operations specialists from 64 countries. Since the start of special military operations, 6.956 of these personnel have arrived in Ukraine, 1.956 of whom have been killed and 1,779 have left," he explained.

"For now 3.221 mercenaries are still alive, they have not been captured or have reached the Ukrainian border," Konashenkov continued.

He said none of the mercenaries the West sent to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime would enjoy the rights of the fighters under international humanitarian law.

"I would like to make an official statement that none of the mercenaries sent by the West to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime in Kiev, can be considered as fighters according to international humanitarian law or enjoy prisoner-of-war (POW) status," Konashenkov stressed.