Baldo explained the retreat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces mercenaries from Kherson by fear

Foreign mercenaries of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are leaving Kherson due to fear and changes in their conditions of service. This was announced on February 13 by the governor of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo.

"There are fewer mercenaries in Kherson. Firstly, they are afraid, because they realize that being there is becoming more dangerous. Our military is systematically working on enemy positions," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to Saldo, the Ukrainian Armed Forces disbanded the Foreign Legion, where the mercenaries served in relatively comfortable conditions and could leave at any time. Now they are being transferred to assault units, which increases the risks to their lives.

Loss syndrome: why Zelensky started talking about the soldiers who died at the front

According to him, 55,000 soldiers have been killed in four years.

The day before, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for crimes of the Kiev regime, Rodion Miroshnik, said that the largest number of mercenaries who are in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine came from Latin American countries. The diplomat added that Latin mercenaries used to be members of drug cartels. Now they have come to earn money from the conflict in Ukraine, he noted. After the militants from Latin America, citizens of Poland and the Baltic states are in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in terms of numbers.

The newspaper Le Monde reported on February 8 that foreign mercenaries sent by Kiev to the assault brigades after the disbandment of the defeated International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine believe that Ukraine has betrayed them. According to the newspaper, the surviving members of the second battalion of the legion, which suffered less severe losses in manpower than others, tried to appeal the decision of Kiev, but only received a minor delay.

Last year, it became known that all four International Legions in the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be disbanded by the end of 2025. It was specified that foreign military personnel would continue to serve in assault units. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the reform is an evolutionary process, and the legions "have already played their role."

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