A SLOVAK citizen, fighting on the side of the pro-Russian separatists, was detained in eastern Ukraine, the Sme.sk website reported on August 19, citing the public-service Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS).
“A citizen of the European Union of Serbian origin who has Slovak citizenship and is an inhabitant of Banská Bystrica was detained near the locomotive depot in Ilovaysk,” Anton Geraschenko, the Ukrainian interior minister’s adviser, wrote on his Facebook profile, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Ilovaysk is located 50 kilometres from Donetsk.
Geraschenko said the man used a passport with the name Miroslav Roháč. According to the stamp in his passport, he arrived in Ukraine on July 3 by plane.
“This is the first time when personal documents proved the detention of a citizen of the European Union fighting on the side of terrorists,” Heraschenko continued, as quoted by TASR, adding that the court will decide over his punishment.
RTVS reported that the man joined the separatists as a volunteer, not a mercenary. He was reportedly operating a mine thrower.
The Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry says it does not have any information about the detained Slovak.
“We are verifying this information,” Peter Susko from the ministry press department said, as quoted by Sme.sk.
The website wrote that many foreign mercenaries and volunteers are fighting with both the separatists and the Ukrainian army. The separatists are assisted mostly by Russians and nationals of Chechnya, while the army is being helped by ultranationalists from western Europe.
Source: Sme.sk, TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
