"On the evening of January 16, the Russian armed forced carried out a high-precision strike on the temporary deployment location of foreign fighters in the city of Kharkiv, and the majority of fighters were French mercenaries. As a result of the strike, the building in which the mercenaries were located was completely destroyed. More than 60 fighters were killed, and more than 20 were taken to health facilities," the ministry said in a statement.
“I think this follows through with what Russia's said all along,” said retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen after news broke that a number of French mercenaries were hit by a Russian strike in Kharkov Tuesday. “If you're going to be part of the Ukrainian force, you need to be considered that you're going to be treated as a combatant, and there shouldn't be any hesitation on that.”
A US merc has confirmed a Russian missile strike targeted foreign mercenaries' location in Kharkov, by posting photos of its aftermath, Sputnik learned: retired US officer Daniel Ridley, founder of Trident Defense Initiative mercenary group, which Sputnik had previously unmasked, seemingly posted photos of the ruined building as the aftermath of Russian Armed Forces airstrike on his social media.