The recent incident in the village of Zaytsevo, when three soldiers of the armed forces of Ukraine were blown up by a landmine, each of whom had equipment and special means produced by NATO countries and one of them was an Estonian citizen, is yet another confirmation that the Ukrainian authorities involve foreign mercenaries in the conflict in Donbass.
“Through this situation Ukraine complicates and delays the Minsk process, which is effortful enough as it is. Instead of directing all efforts towards finding solutions mutually agreed with the Republics in the framework of the Minsk process, the Ukrainian authorities are only further aggravating tensions and mistrust between the parties by involving foreign mercenaries in the conflict.
The Donetsk People’s Republic considers this case to be a flagrant violation not only of the Minsk Agreements but also of the international law. Thus, Article 47 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 provides that mercenaries do not have the status of combatant and, consequently, are not entitled to juridical protection; Article 10 of the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries of 1989 defines a mercenary as an alleged criminal; Article 3 of the UN General Assembly Resolution on the Definition of Aggression of 1974 provides that the dispatching of mercenary by any state can be qualified as an act of aggression. Moreover, the presence of foreign mercenaries in the territory of Ukraine is a violation of paragraph 10 of the Complex of Measures approved by the UN Security Council. It clearly states the need to withdraw all foreign mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine.
We categorically condemn Ukraine’s flagrant violations of both the fundamental tenets of international law and the Minsk Agreements approved by the UN Security Council’s resolution,” Nikonorova said.