Captured Russian serviceman acknowledges presence of Russian officers in the Donbas
Russian servicemen captured on July 11 in the Donbas as a result of the fire fight with the Ukrainian forces acknowledged that Russian military advisors are currently working in the so-called Dontesk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) published a video in which the captured serviceman acknowledges that he is a citizen of the Russian Federation. His name is Alexei Sedikov. He came to the Donbas in March 2016 together with his friend, Dmitri Marchenko.
According to Sedikov, his friend told him that it’s possible to earn some money by fighting on the side of separatists. He was making 15,000 Russian rubles (approximately 236 USD) a month.
On the video he says that he was a platoon commander. According to him Russian officers are usually either battalion commanders or deputy chiefs of staff.
“We, of course, have here [in the separatist republics] Russian soldiers and officers. They are more like military advisors rather than simply training the personnel,“ Sedikov said.
The captured fighter also admitted that the separatists used to “shell both their own territory and the territory of Ukraine”. “Two shells here and two shell their, so to speak. Thus, I think we were provoking the return fire,” added Sedikov.
Previously the Ukrainian Chief of Staff reported that the two Russian servicemen captured in the Donbas held the ranks of platoon and battalion commander. Their names were not disclosed initially. According to the Ukrainian military, the prisoners received medical aid. The video published by the SSU was taken in a hospital. Sedikov was wounded in the leg.