Slovak citizen who fought on Russia's side captured in Ukraine

A Slovak citizen who fought on the side of the Russian occupying army has been captured in the combat zone in Ukraine.

As reported by Aktuality, video of the captured Slovak was published by Ukrainian journalist, director and volunteer Oleksandr Kachura.

The man in the video introduced himself as Jaroslav Galajčík and said he was a citizen of the Slovak Republic.

Asked how he found himself in Ukraine, the man replied briefly that he had been captured by Ukrainian forces.

Kachura told Aktuality that he had an opportunity to talk to a captured man for about half an hour. The man was captured near the city of Lyman in Donetsk Oblast.

"Some of his fellow soldiers who were with him were killed before reaching the point they were heading to. He was a medic and had to evacuate the injured. Having suffered a contusion, he headed for our positions where he found empty trenches. He took cover there but a drone struck the trench, and he suffered another contusion. He kept walking but instead of reaching Russian positions, he reached ours," Kachura explained.

It is so far unknown when the Slovak man arrived in the combat zone. Before that he allegedly was in the occupied part of Luhansk Oblast where he used to assist in loading train cars.

Kachura stated that the man claimed he had not participated in combat actions, even though he was a contractor. He allegedly let the Russians recruit him into an international unit where he served along with Indians, Nepali and Mongols.

He does not want to return to Russia, preferring to serve his sentence in a Slovak prison for fighting in a foreign army.

In Slovakia, unauthorised recruitment is punished with a prison sentence from two to eight years.

"He was the only Slovak in his unit. The only EU citizen. He was accused of being a spy. I honestly did not expect this. This was the first time I spoke with a captured Slovak," Kachura revealed.

Journalists of Aktuality found a Facebook profile which may belong to the captured Slovak citizen.

The profile mainly contains mentions of Hinduism, and Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, was chosen as his place of residence.

There were a lot of mentions of esotericism and meditation in the list of his hobbies.

It is so far unknown whether Ukrainian security services have contacted the Slovak side in connection with the man's detention.

The Slovak embassy in Kyiv so far has not been informed about the detention of the Slovak citizen. The journalists promised to turn to the Slovak Foreign Ministry.

Recently, the UK intelligence reported that Russia has been sending to its war against Ukraine certain people who were earlier supposed to be deployed in Africa.

In March, a former member of the Wagner PMC, who was headed to Transnistria, was not allowed to enter Moldova.