(Dan Tri) – Russia created and trained a volunteer battalion consisting of surrendered Ukrainian soldiers, while Kiev also established a unit to recruit Moscow citizens to fight.
Russian soldiers participating in a special military operation in Ukraine (Photo: RIA Novosti).
Russian news agency RIA said that Moscow has created the first volunteer battalion consisting of former Ukrainian soldiers.
The new battalion is named Bogdan Khmelnitsky and will become part of the tactical operational force Cascade.
Battalion commander Andrei Tishchenko said: `We have served in the Cascade unit and we will directly perform our next duty here. We will also take the oath when we complete the training course.`
The battalion arrived at the special training area 3 weeks ago, all soldiers are fully armed and ready to fight, according to RIA.
The first information about the formation of the above battalion appeared in February this year.
Most of them are originally from Donbass and were mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine before.
All passed the information check process and signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, receiving Russian citizenship.
On October 25, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said many Ukrainian soldiers had voluntarily surrendered or been captured in recent weeks.
During a meeting with soldiers from the Russian Army’s Eastern Operational Group, Minister Shoigu also asked them how the enemy’s behavior had changed.
`They are panicking, we know every direction of their approach, inside and out, we continue to attack them,` the Russian soldier replied.
Ukraine created an all-Russian unit
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official on October 25 confirmed that the country’s armed forces had recently established a unit consisting entirely of Russian citizens – those who had come to Ukraine to volunteer to join the Kiev army.
The unit is called the `Siberian Battalion` and is described as consisting of Russians opposed to Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.
According to Newsweek, previously, armed groups with Russian participation such as the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps also seemed to have cooperated with Ukraine in the fight against Moscow.
However, the Siberian battalion is the first group of Russians to become an official part of the Ukrainian army.
Mr. Andriy Yusov, representative of the Main Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR), told Kyiv Post: `We can confirm information about the formation of the Siberian battalion, operating in the ranks of the International Legion
The Siberian Battalion will become a new force and will soon participate in combat.
Mr. Yusov said, all members of the Siberian battalion have signed military contracts and participated in training.
Ukrainian officials announced that the country plans to recruit more Russians to create new units.
