Amidst truce: Russia's Yekaterinburg sends 50 'volunteers' in balaclavas to Donbas

12.03.201511:07

50 people headed for eastern Ukraine to support separatists from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg overnight into Thursday, a local news website reports.

The passers-by must have been surprised to see a crowd of tough guys carrying balaklavas, with huge bags, and dozens of grandmothers and young women showing them off.

“There has been the most huge sending of volunteers to the Luhansk People’s Republic since the beginning of the truce. 50 people are going,” Vladimir Yefimov, Head of the the local association of veterans of special forces. “The guys are mostly veterans of special forces, half of them have already fought in Ukraine. They will be helping to restore the republic during the truce. You ask why they are in balaclavas? They are very shy!”

At the same time, the group is expected to serve in brigade ‘Prizrak’ [Ghost] under the command of Alexei Mozgovoi, Yefimov said.

Mozgovoi is notorious for discriminating women and taking law into his own hands.

In contradiction to Yefimov’s statements all the conversations came down to that the ‘volunteers’ were going to ‘fight for the brotherly people’. A visiting priest read a prayer and urged the audience to ‘fight against the enemies of Russia’.

Not only relatives, but also representatives of the Communist Party, members of the association “Ural – New Russia”, Cossacks came to say goodbye to the fighters, Yefimov stressed.

“They are not mercenaries! They are volunteers! They are doing it for free for free!” he told journalists.