DISINFO: There were many mercenaries among those who attacked the Kursk region
SUMMARY
There are many mercenaries among those who attacked the Kursk region, and perhaps even professional military personnel from foreign countries. Foreign speech has already been recorded there. Russian special forces are meticulously collecting information about Ukrainian mercenaries.
RESPONSE
This is a pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that foreigners fighting for Ukraine are mercenaries and perpetuating the cliché that Russia is not fighting Ukraine, but rather NATO countries within Ukraine. The statement was made in the context of the Ukrainian advance in the Russian Kursk Region.
Foreign fighters in Ukraine are incorporated into the Ukrainian forces and are not classified as mercenaries or members of Private Military Contractors. This practice is common in various armies. Ukraine has called on experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion, whose members are regular soldiers of the Ukrainian military.
As pointed out by experts, the nationality of the soldier is not an issue:
"Combatants are members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict or volunteers corps incorporated therein. According to the ICRC Commentary to Article 4, the requirement for membership in the armed forces, or the incorporation of the volunteer corps, is a matter of domestic regulation. However, the incorporated unit must be a professional fighting force, fulfilling the criteria spelled out in Article 4A(2) of Geneva Convention III, and be subordinate to the regular army command. The fact that an individual is a national of a third State and not a national of the armed forces in which they are serving is widely considered to be irrelevant when it comes to determining combatant or POW status."
Mercenaries, on the other hand, participate in armed conflicts illegally and can be held criminally liable for participating in hostilities. Mercenaries, according to international law, are not citizens or official military personnel of a belligerent state.
There are no such mercenaries in Ukraine - foreign voluntary units are part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. While Russia has repeatedly attracted both absolutely illegal private military companies like Wagner group and illegal mercenaries from Syria for the war against Ukraine.
See related cases such as: Significant number of foreign mercenaries fighting on Ukraine's side; Nazi mercenaries from Europe fighting in Ukraine; over 2,500 foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine; over 11,000 foreign mercenaries fought on Ukraine's side since February 2022; 60 French mercenaries lost their lives in Kharkiv; Ukrainian army admits mercenaries from 50 countries fight on Kyiv's side.