London - Saba:
The Russian Embassy in London has warned British citizens against joining the ranks of the Ukrainian forces as mercenaries to participate in the conflict against Russia.
"We call on British and other nationals to refrain from traveling to the area of the special military operation in any capacity," the embassy said on its Telegram channel, as reported by Sputnik.
"The Russian Armed Forces consider non-Ukrainian citizens who have taken up arms as part of military units of Ukraine to be mercenaries. They are therefore deprived of the right to enjoy the status of combatants or prisoners of war under the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 (Protocol I)."
"The Russian Armed Forces consider them a legitimate target," it added.
The Russian embassy also stated that if foreign fighters are caught, they will face criminal prosecution by the Russian authorities, and that a mercenary is punishable in Russia by up to 15 years in prison.
Therefore, the Russian diplomatic mission urged foreign citizens to "treat with the utmost skepticism" any explicit or implicit calls to join pro-Ukrainian armed formations.
"The reasons for this propaganda, which primarily targets foreigners, are the heavy losses of Ukrainian troops on the battlefield, as well as the failure of repressive mobilization efforts in Ukraine. The sponsors and instigators of this campaign bear personal responsibility for the fate of foreigners who succumb to their propaganda and may later die in the conflict zone, as well as for civilian casualties at the hands of foreign mercenaries," it said.
Earlier, the Russian embassy in London told Sputnik that there are grounds to believe that the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Britain is involved in recruiting mercenaries to participate in the conflict against Russia. At the same time, the embassy noted that such activities do not cause any particular negative reaction from the British leadership against the backdrop of its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
Earlier, The Sun reported that an 18-year-old British mercenary was killed on his first “mission” in Ukraine using a Russian drone.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by recruiting mercenaries through its embassies.
The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly stressed that the Kiev regime uses foreign mercenaries as "cannon fodder" and that Russian forces will continue to eliminate them throughout Ukraine.