Donetsk, Aug 24 – DAN. DPR Intelligence has reported 50 foreign mercenaries arriving in Berdyanskoye outside Mariupol, said DPR Operations Command deputy commander Eduard Basurin.
"We have received data on the arrival of 50 armed people with state-of-art arms to the 36th marine brigade responsibility area outside Berdyanskoye. Their luggage suggests they are snipers. Our sources say they talk to each other in a language resembling Arabic."
Basurin said an increase in sniper fire incidents might be observed on the Mariupol axis in the areas of responsibility of 36th and 128th brigades of the Ukrainian army.
The deployment of foreigners is connected to the sharp decrease of military experts in the Ukrainian army. "The Ukrainian armed forces HR headquarters say that in August-December 2018 over 20,000 servicemen will be discharged and 32,000 in 2018 in total."
Earlier DPR Command said that Ukrainian army HQ considers contracts with 1,000 foreign mercenaries to carry out special tasks and occupy new positions in Donbass.*ot