"The forces that come to us, they are all volunteers. For example, on Monday 14 Serbs arrived," said Zakharchenko at a news conference in Donetsk, as reported by Interfax.
Officials in Belgrade last week appealed on Serbian citizens not to join wars abroad, and also announced new legislation that would criminalize this behavior.
Zakharchenko previously explained that the forces under his command received weapons from Russia, but this was later denied in Moscow.
"It is our equipment, the equipment we took over from the Ukrainian troops. That's enough for us. Basically, it's a trophy," he said.
- Zakharchenko also said that Kiev will have to recognize the DNR as an independent state, "because it is no longer possible to look for some form of autonomy."
According to him, the DNR is willing to take part in constructive discussions and to lay down arms if Kiev offers acceptable proposals.
In such a case, the DNR representatives will talk to Kiev on an equal footing, said Zakharchenko, stressing that otherwise the pro-Russian forces are ready to fight to the end, protecting their homes and families, according to Itar-Tass.
Leaders of the pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine have also warned their soldiers against desertion, treason, espionage, subversive activities and surrender of weapons to the enemy, and said this can be punished by death.
The acting Chief Public Prosecutor of the DNR was heard saying in a video published by the pro-Russian forces that it is no secret that some of their members commit crimes, and that there had been theft and unauthorized use of force, according to Reuters.
DNR officials announced that they planned to adopt criminal code law and establish military courts.
Sources: B92, Beta, Tanjug
19/8/14
--
-
Related:
Kadyrov: No Chechen battalions in Ukraine, only 14 volunteers are in south-east.
Chechen Leader Denies Sending Fighters to Ukraine
Kadyrov ready to send 74,000 Chechens to Ukraine
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Donetsk Self-Defense Forces Joined by French Volunteers (Interview) ...
ReplyDeleteMOSCOW, August 21 (RIA Novosti) - The military conflict in southeastern Ukraine has been the focus of politicians, the military and journalists around the world for almost six months now. The world is divided between supporters of Kiev’s new government and those who support the self-defense forces in the southeast.
The Western countries unanimously support the Ukrainian government economically, politically, and via the flow of information. Moreover, there are regular reports of foreign recruits from the US, Italy, Georgia and some other countries fighting in the Ukrainian army and in its National Guard.
However, even among Western countries that have been caught in an information war against southeastern Ukraine and Russia, there is support for the self-defense troops of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. They are willing to lend moral support and even personally help the people of Novorossiya. Some are even eager to enlist.
Several days ago, several French volunteers contacted RIA Novosti. They’d just arrived in southeastern Ukraine and already felt compelled to tell their first-hand stories about the civil war there to the people of France. What other reasons led them to fight for the besieged people’s republic? They told Sergei Safronov, Head of the Security Agencies Newsdesk, their reasons for taking up the fight.
First of all, please introduce yourself and tell us what brought you to Ukraine.
Guillaume: My name is Guillaume. There are four of us from France; the others are Michel, Victor and Nicolas. We are French volunteers and basically the first wave of an entire group of our fellow citizens, who are either preparing for a trip to Ukraine or are already on their way.
Are there any more French people in Donetsk?
Guillaume: No, but I hear there are some Spanish people. We haven’t seen them yet.
Did you bring a weapon? Are you from the military or are you civilians?
Guillaume: Of course we did not bring any weapons, but we received some from the militia. These are personal service firearms. We are not servicemen at all; we are civilians – basically political volunteers.
Guillaume, you still haven’t mentioned your reasons for going to Ukraine. Why are you here?
Guillaume: We support the geopolitical idea of European unity. We are both revolutionaries and traditionalists. We came to Donbas, where civilians are being killed by agents from Kiev. Those who are conducting this terrorist operation in Donbas are the henchmen of the international mafia oligarchs.
You should clearly understand it is the third world war going on. It started in Libya then moved to Syria and now to Donbas. We can see that Russia is one of a small number of countries that challenged and is almost single-handedly fighting international globalism. It is some kind of a Reconquista. We are here to help Russia in this fight.
Do you get paid?
Guillaume: No, we are not here to make money; no one pays us. Moreover, we paid quite a lot to get here...........................http://en.ria.ru/interview/20140821/192221460/Donetsk-Self-Defense-Forces-Joined-by-French-Volunteers.html
21/8/14