Overseas fighters in Ukraine liable for looting and abuses: Report

Overseas fighters in Ukraine are liable for widespread looting and theft, poor management, and different abuses of energy, in response to a brand new report.

The Kyiv Impartial, a Ukrainian pro-government information outlet, printed an investigation into abuses and crimes carried out by the Worldwide Legion, largely counting on testimonies from the volunteers themselves. The legion's management abused energy by ordering the sexual assaults of feminine members, sending the troops on repeated "suicide missions," and orchestrating looting and theft, the troopers stated. The leaders, together with a Polish gangster, confronted zero repercussions, in response to the volunteers.

“We got here right here to assist these individuals to struggle for this nation, in opposition to this invasion. We didn’t come right here to do precisely what f***ing Russian individuals do after they’re on Ukrainian soil,” a Brazilian platoon commander reported his subordinates as saying earlier than he resigned.

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Most of the fees had been levied in opposition to Sasha Kuchynsky, 66, one of many three commanders of a bunch of 500 volunteers. Kuchynsky is accused by the volunteers of utilizing his place as commander to counterpoint himself, robbing civilians and subordinates alike, whereas endangering the lives of his troopers by sending them on suicide missions. Kuchynsky was accused of ordering volunteers to loot procuring facilities in full view of locals. Gear despatched to the legion by patrons was nearly at all times stolen, by no means making it to the troops themselves, troopers stated.

Complaints registered with higher-ups, together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, all went unanswered, the report stated.

The accusations leveled within the report are consistent with many earlier stories concerning the state of the Worldwide Legion. In interviews with practically a dozen overseas volunteers in Ukraine, complaints of systemic stealing of apparatus by Ukrainian military superiors, the utilization of overseas volunteers as "meatshields," and widespread casualties as a consequence of pleasant hearth had been documented by U.S. media outlet Ishgal.

Zelensky introduced the formation of the Worldwide Legion on Feb. 27, three days after Russia's invasion, inviting fighters from world wide to return defend Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities officers claimed that 20,000 such volunteers answered the decision, in response to the Week.

The volunteers themselves estimate that the contingent coated within the investigation, consisting of 500 troopers, makes up one-third of the whole Worldwide Legion, totaling simply 1,500 troopers. Many volunteers have been both killed or abandoned over disillusionment with the legion's conduct.