Over a hundred of German citizens reportedly have
joined militias in eastern Ukraine.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Over a hundred of German
citizens, including those with military training, have joined militias
in eastern Ukraine to fight against Ukrainian government troops,
Die Welt reported Sunday.
A research by Welt Am Sonntag has found that the
majority of Germans swelling the ranks of anti-Kiev forces have USSR
background. Some of them served with the Bundeswehr, known
collectively as German armed forces.
A member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling
party, Stephan Mayer, told the newspaper German nationals who take part
in civil wars should be taken to court. At present, the German criminal
code only punishes those who fight alongside the brutal Islamic State
(ISIL) terror group in Syria and Iraq.
Mayer also urged to strip those with dual
citizenship of their German nationality and purposed criminal charges
against Germans who go to war in eastern Ukraine.
The news was met with concern by Ukraine's
ambassador in Berlin, Andriy Melnyk, who called on the federal
government to stop its citizens from "travelling to the east
to take part in the killings," Die Welt reported.
The United Nations estimates that the armed conflict
in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 6,000 people, since it
broke out in April 2014. Earlier this year, the Ukrainian government
announced it was considering whether to ask the UN to deploy
international peacekeepers to the region, but there was no formal
request.
Source:
Sputnik News 15-03-2015
