Italian police uncover gang recruiting mercenaries to fight for Donbas separatists

Italian police have unmasked a criminal organization that was engaged in recruitment of mercenaries and sending them to join pro-Russian separatists in the war-torn east of Ukraine.

The operation was controlled by Genoa’s prosecutors, arrests were made in Milan, Parma and Avellino, Italian media report. The prosecutor’s office issued the warrant over ‘recruiting mercenaries and participating in an armed conflict abroad’.

15 persons are involved in the case. Law enforcement agencies managed to detain three recruiters, two of them are citizens of Albania and Moldova.

Three other people, who must be in Donbas now, were arrested in absentia. In addition, the policemen raided the homes of seven other people.

The police got a lead on the recruiters when they were probing into the activities of ultra-right groups in Liguria.

belsat.eu, following pravda.com.ua