Russia Singles Out Western Personnel in Ukraine in Latest Precision Strikes

The Russian Armed Forces have continued to single out Western personnel in the Ukrainian theatre in multiple strikes as part of their ongoing war effort, with this recently confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Speaking to local media, Peskov stated regarding Western personnel both providing training and directly taking part in combat operations: "Our military is increasingly effectively carrying out strikes against such targets. This is very good from the point of view the special military operation and achieving the goals that have been set.”  One of the most recent strikes launched targeted Western contractors near the settlement of Stetskovka, located north of the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine. The Russian Defence Ministry stated regarding the strike: "Strike on mercenaries ... Stetskovka area (north of Sumy) ... As a result, the missile strike eliminated up to 30 foreign mercenaries and 6 units of hardware in a temporary deployment point.” Drone footage released showed the strike being carried out. Russian state sources have consistently referred to foreign combatants in the theatre as “foreign mercenaries,” although many have been volunteer fighters. The less pejorative term “contractors” is used to refer to equivalent Russian contract personnel such as those from the Wagner Group.

The Ukrainian-led assault on the Russian Kursk region launched on August 6 has notably seen foreign personnel play a significant role, with American Forward Observations Group forces having been pictured operating in the region. Ukrainian personnel involved in the Kursk operation have themselves attested to the presence of Western personnel, with a notable example being the following statement from 80th Airborne Assault Brigade serviceman Ruslan Poltoratsky: "When we crossed the border with Russia, at first I thought there was some line noise. But then I distinguished what they were saying - they were speaking English, Polish, maybe even French. I did not understand anything, I said into the walkie-talkie - 'repeat, repeat,' hearing some gibberish.” "When they had already taken positions [in the Kursk Region], they also went on the air with their superiors, with ours as well, and I also heard them saying something in English and in some other language. Something about houses, chaos," he added. Russian military sources, and civilians in areas held by Ukrainian and allied forces have made a number of separate reports on the operations of Western personnel in Kursk. Major General Apty Alaudinov, deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Department and commander of the Akhmat Special Forces commando unit, stated in mid-August that a large number of French and Polish military contractors were encountered during operations.

Western advisors, logisticians, combatants, and other personnel operating newly delivered NATO-standard hardware have played a central and growing role in the war effort since early 2022, ranging from British Royal Marines deployed for frontline combat operations from April that year at the latest, to SAS advisors who have reportedly provided significant support armoured offensives against Russian positions. Strikes on the positions of Western personnel in Ukraine have been common since the outbreak of hostilities in early 2022, with an early example being the targeting on March 13, 2022 of a military training base in Yavoriv less than 15 kilometres from the Polish border where close to 1000 foreign fighters were based, killing an estimated 180 personnel.

A notable example from early 2024 was a strike on the headquarters of European contractors, predominantly of French origin, on January 16, which  caused at least 80 casualties 60 or more of which were killed. Russian state media reported that these personnel were “highly trained specialists who work on specific weapons systems too complex for the average Ukrainian conscripts,” which “put some of the most lethal and long-range weapons in the Ukrainian arsenal out of service until more specialists are found” to replace them. Western personnel have also been singled out for targeting far from their bases, with a notable example being an Iskander-M missile strike against Georgian Legion foreign fighters near the frontlines in late April 2023, destroying 15 vehicles, killing up to 60 personnel and seriously wounding more than 20 more.