A militant force accused of torturing and murdering Russian POWs is reportedly taking part in the incursion
Members of the Georgian Legion, a paramilitary force backed by Kiev, are reportedly taking part in the Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Kursk Region.
The presence of the group was reported on Thursday by War Zone, a prominent military-focused news website. It cited a source “with direct knowledge of ongoing operations in Kursk,” and posted a video from a pro-Ukrainian X (formerly Twitter) account as evidence.
The clip shows men operating a mortar, and talking between themselves and with other people off camera in a mixture of Georgian and Russian. They are seen wearing military gear and blue arm tape used by Ukrainian troops to identify each other in the heat of combat.
Another video posted by the same channel, likewise claiming to show the mercenaries in Kursk Region, shows a group of resting fighters, with Ukrainian and Georgian flags on their uniforms.
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The Georgian Legion is reportedly about 120-strong and originates as a force created by veteran guerrilla fighter Mamuka Mamulashvili in 2014. During the Ukraine-Russia conflict, its members have received negative media attention, after videos showing them torturing and executing Russian prisoners of war became public in March 2022.
The Russian military claims it has “eliminated” the individuals responsible for the atrocities. The legion touts itself as a volunteer unit of the Ukrainian army and is perceived in Moscow as an auxiliary force of Ukraine’s military intelligence, engaging in terrorist activities.
Earlier this week, Georgian parliamentary speaker Shalva Papuashvili claimed that Western officials had pressured the government in Tbilisi to help Kiev recruit mercenaries in the country. He stated that foreign officials and members of the Georgian opposition “told us that we should have introduced sanctions [against Russia], sent mercenaries [to Ukraine], and so on.”
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday that Ukraine has lost up to 945 soldiers and 102 military vehicles, including 12 tanks, in the Kursk Region border clashes, since launching the operation on Tuesday morning.