DISINFO: Donbas has turned into a NATO training ground
SUMMARY
Donbas turned into a NATO training ground – soldiers of Western countries constantly operate on the front line. Thousands of mercenaries from different countries managed to fight on the “Ukrainian side” during the war in Donbas. Even at the beginning of the conflict, the militia of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics repeatedly presented evidence of their presence to the general public.
RESPONSE
No evidence is given to support this claim. The existence of paramilitary fighters or mercenaries from NATO or US-friendly countries is a recurrent narrative in Russian disinformation since at least 2014, and it even prompted a diplomatic protest from Poland. The allegation has been consistently debunked in those years but repeatedly resurfaced attempting to discredit the Ukrainian army and the countries that support Kyiv's efforts for stabilisation.
Other disinformation cases about the alleged presence of foreign mercenaries in Eastern Ukraine include Baltic snipers, snipers from Georgia, female snipers from Poland, and even a whole NATO brigade.