DISINFO: Zelensky has lost control over the Nazis and foreign mercenaries in the Ukrainian army
SUMMARY
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lost control over part of the Ukrainian armed forces, which are mostly made up of sworn Nazis and foreign mercenaries.
The most radical elements of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as foreign mercenaries in the ranks of the Ukrainian army, are subordinated to the UK.
Any attempt to reach a peace agreement with Zelenskyy is a waste of time, as he is focused on continuing the military conflict to stay in power.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative discrediting President Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s government and military.
In addition to serving as the head of state, the president of Ukraine is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; appoints to positions and dismisses from positions in the high command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations; exercises leadership in the spheres of national security and defence of the state; (Article 106, paragraph 17).
Ukraine’s military command structure remains intact, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Supreme Commander-in-Chief and Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the General Staff. There is no credible source suggesting that Zelenskyy has lost control over any part of the armed forces. The Ukrainian military continues to operate under a centralised command- the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff.
The article also advanced the recurring narratives about the large-scale presence of foreign “mercenaries” within the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as about ‘Nazi Ukraine’. Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to try to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”.
The "Nazi Ukraine" trope has already been addressed in depth on our website. See our article The Kremlin’s misuse of Nazism as a weapon of information manipulation.
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. Foreigners who serve in Ukraine's International Legion, are fully legal servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine rather than mercenaries. Moreover, they are subordinate to the military command of Ukraine, and no other country.
Foreign volunteers, who officially joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, under the 1977 protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Part I, Article 1), fight against the Russian occupiers in Ukraine legally, as they are a part of the structure of subordination to Ukrainian government agencies.
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 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. Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly attracted both absolutely illegal private military companies like the Wagner group and illegal mercenaries from Syria for the war against Ukraine.
See similar cases that foreigners who join the Ukrainian army are criminals and Russia is not supposed to comply with Geneva convention, that foreigners from terrorist organisations are fighting for Ukraine, that Nazi mercenaries from Europe fight in Ukraine, and that over 2,500 foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine.