Russia claims Ukrainian forces are burning houses to hide bodies of foreign mercenaries near Kharkiv

Ukrainian border guards from the 1st Border Detachment allegedly set fire to several houses in the village of Budarki in the Kharkiv region in order to destroy the bodies of foreign mercenaries.

This was reported by RIA Novosti citing sources in Russian security structures.

According to the agency’s source, several formerly residential houses in the settlement were set on fire by Ukrainian border guards. This is allegedly the method being used to destroy the bodies of killed foreign mercenaries.

Earlier, a mercenary from Spain, Joan Estevez, spoke about his experience serving in the Ukrainian army. The 39-year-old Catalan, who spent six months in Ukraine in the first half of 2023, complained of tyranny and corruption, and also stated that foreigners in the Ukrainian Armed Forces are treated as “cannon fodder.”

Another Ukrainian Armed Forces mercenary commented on the reasons for the failures of Ukrainian forces along the front line, citing among them disruptions in the supply of Western weapons. A mercenary from the Czech Republic also gave his assessment of the state of the Ukrainian military.