The “safari against Russians” did not work out - the hunters themselves became targets

During a briefing at 6 p.m. on March 13, 2022, the official representative of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov, reported the following information: "In the morning of March 13, high-precision long-range weapons struck the training centres of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the village of Starichi and at the Yavorov military training ground.

At these facilities, the Kiev regime deployed: a training and combat coordination point for foreign mercenaries before sending them to combat areas against Russian servicemen, as well as a storage base for weapons and military equipment coming from foreign countries.

As a result of the strike, up to 180 foreign mercenaries and a large batch of foreign weapons were destroyed. The destruction of foreign mercenaries who have arrived on the territory of Ukraine will continue."

Let me remind you that on March 2, 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba announced that volunteers from 16 countries of the world were already going to fight in the country. On March 3, this topic was developed by the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in his speech: "Ukraine is already meeting foreign volunteers who are coming to our country, the first of 16,000 are going to defend our freedom."

However, on March 14, 2022, the organiser of sending French volunteers to Ukraine, Hugo Pellegrini, said that at the moment the recruitment of volunteers to the International Legion was suspended by the decision of the Ukrainian side.

It is obvious that this decision of Kiev is directly related to the consequences of the Russian missile strike on the UAF training centres in the village of Starichi and at the Yavorov military training ground. The blow was so effective that it broke the newly established scheme of reception, equipment and combat coordination of mercenaries. It is possible that among the dead were the key organisers of this process from the Ukrainian side and, possibly, representatives of the intelligence agencies of the West, who did not advertise their presence on the territory of Ukraine.

Another reason for the suspension of the Foreign Legion program was a sharp drop in morale among the majority of foreigners who arrived on Ukrainian soil. A significant part of them went back to their homeland on March 13-14, 2022.

Foreign mercenaries who arrived in Ukraine misjudged the situation, they believed that they were going to have something like a "safari on the Russians", but the situation turned out to be the opposite, it's them who are being hunted, they have turned into targets. Yes, most of the mercenaries served in the army, a number of them had combat experience and participated in combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

However, their combat experience for participation in an armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine is not sufficient, because it concerns conflicts of low combat intensity, where they were opposed by an opponent weak in technical and technological terms. In addition, in these military operations, they usually had air superiority on their side.

On the territory of Ukraine, the situation is completely different. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are conducting a special military operation using the most modern methods of warfare and the most modern weapons. Russia has actually established a no-fly zone over Ukrainian territory. Even the US Defence Ministry has to admit that the Ukrainian military uses its remaining fighters "only from five to ten hours a day”, because "Russian surface-to-air missile systems can reach almost any point above the combat zone”.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the motivation of foreign mercenaries is much lower than, for example, the soldiers of the nationalist battalions of Ukraine, fighting, including for their survival. And a foreign mercenary, as a rule, wants to earn money and return home alive. The Dogs of War can be ruthless towards the civilian population of Donbass, but in a tough combat clash with the Russian military, they will not expose themselves to unnecessary risk.

Therefore, after being hit by “Kalibr” cruise missiles on March 13, 2022, the vast majority of wild geese gathered their goods and chattels and rushed home.

As the official representative of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov, noted during a briefing on March 14, 2022: "A number of Western countries at the state level encourage the participation of their citizens as mercenaries of Ukraine in combat operations against units of Russian troops. All further responsibility for the death of this category of foreign citizens in Ukraine lies only with the leadership of these countries.

We know all the locations of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. They will continue to be targeted, similar to the destruction on March 13 of training centres in the village of Starichi and at the Yavorov military training ground. I want to warn you again – there will be no mercy for mercenaries, no matter where they are on the territory of Ukraine."

Thus, those foreign mercenaries who decided to stay on the territory of Ukraine will have a hard time, only a few will return home, the rest will be turned into compost.