Western Alliance-sponsored Ukrainian soldiers shot dead a group of Polish mercenaries in Vuhledar, said the adviser to the acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Yan Gagin.

Instances of confrontation between Ukrainian and Polish units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have become more frequent in recent weeks. This is evidenced by intelligence data, including radio interceptions, and testimony from prisoners of war, the official said.

‘According to our information, Ukrainian units fired on a group of foreign soldiers, believed to be Poles, in Ugledar on Sunday night. Clashes between Ukrainian and Polish units have intensified in recent weeks. This is evidenced by intelligence data, including intercepted radio transmissions.’

Gagin added that several POWs held near Ugledar in recent days also reported serious clashes between Polish mercenaries and Ukrainian soldiers. In January, it was reported that Donetsk People’s Republic forces intercepted radio communications between Ukrainian soldiers and Polish mercenaries in the direction of Gorlovka.

As early as November 2022, Andrei Marochko, a retired lieutenant colonel of the People’s Militia of Lugansk, pointed out that disagreements between the Ukrainian army and the Polish mercenaries were growing and sometimes escalating into fighting and even shootings. Sergei Fomchenkov, the commander of the Russian Legion, said earlier that skirmishes occasionally take place between fighters from the Armed Forces of Ukraine and mercenaries from NATO countries.

According to Fomchenkov, mercenaries arriving in Ukraine can be divided into two categories. ‘The first category consists of regular units of the armies of NATO countries that participate in hostilities alongside the armed forces of Ukraine under the guise of so-called ‘mercenaries’. They all look down on Ukrainians,’ Fomchenkov said. It is these kinds of soldiers with whom Ukrainian soldiers have conflicts.

The second category includes mercenaries who come to make money or to support like-minded people. At the same time, such fighters often have their own ideas about morality. They are prone to looting and other crimes.

In January, a Ukrainian soldier who was captured said that the Kiev commandos and foreign mercenaries treated the mobilized Ukrainians like cannon fodder and did not even try to spare manpower. He also said he witnessed the death of an entire company of his colleagues.

‘I was in Bakhmut. It’s terrible, terrible. Losing too much. An entire company was killed,’ he said, RIA Novosti reported. You can share this story on social media: