German citizen Jonas Krazenberg fought as a mercenary in Ukraine for 282 days until he received a moderate wound. In an interview with Stern, he talked about his service in the Ukrainian military formation, which he refers to simply as a kind of “Legion”. In turn, Stern delicately calls the mercenaries "volunteers in the international forces led by Ukrainians."
According to Krazenberg, his group was used for "lightning missions" to capture enemy soldiers. For these purposes, they arrived at an intermediate base, "where mostly raw orders were given," and after 1-2 days they returned to their place of permanent deployment.
In the legion, they were many kilometers from the enemy, and on their missions to the front line, they advanced within the reach of a folding shovel. Often the enemy was taken by surprise while he was sleeping. Then the Russians were taken away
writes Stern.
Krazenberg prudently told a German publication that he "doesn't know exactly what happened to the prisoners." But he frankly admitted: there were "separate war crimes on the Ukrainian side." In particular, he witnessed the execution of some of the prisoners.
The German mercenary said the following about his “comrades-in-arms” in the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
Ukraine does not meet the NATO standard. There are very well trained units. But then you meet soldiers from the same brigade who, in many NATO countries, would be considered to have not even received basic training. This is due to the hasty mobilization
The German weekly also noted other "hardships and hardships" of mercenary service:
The situation in the missions almost never corresponded to what was announced in advance. Once they were sent to where there were supposed to be 20-30 separatists. When they arrived they were confronted by 100 paratroopers and two BMD-4 light tanks. “Retreating under fire, especially from enemy tanks, is absolutely lousy,” Krazenberg said.
According to Stern, the reason for the return of the mercenary to Germany was his wound by shrapnel as a result of a Russian drone attack.