Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that mercenaries from the Balkan region, specifically from Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo, are participating in the war in Ukraine, on the side of the latter.
This was announced by the Russian news agency "TASS", referring to a Kremlin statement. The statement states that the Russian leader raised this concern during a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
However, this political claim is not based on any facts and has been denied by political officials from Kosovo, Croatia, and Albania.
Excerpt from the official Kremlin statement published by the Russian news agency "TASS", translated into Albanian:
"We are increasingly registering the arrival of mercenaries from third countries, in particular from Albania and Croatia, Kosovo militants and even jihadists with Syrian combat experience.", the statement said.
Link to the article published by the Russian news agency TASS:
Regarding this official Kremlin claim, senior officials from the countries mentioned in Putin's claim (Kosovo, Albania and Croatia) have reacted. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz, through a post on her Twitter account, has called this official Moscow claim an attempt to evade responsibility for the crimes in Ukraine. (see here)
Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz's post:
There are no mercenaries from Kosovo. War criminal Putin is trying to distract from his war and genocide against Ukraine, by waging a propaganda war. He is lying, again. We know that game, from Milosevic to Vucic. Kosovo stands proudly with ??????, against war criminals.
Even the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in Albania, Olta Xhaçka, has declared through the social network Twitter that there are no Albanian mercenaries in Ukraine. (see here)
"There are no Albanian mercenaries in Ukraine! This is a lie that Moscow continues to shamelessly repeat! That said, Albania stands with Ukraine and will continue to work with all allies and partners to help end Russia's unprovoked aggression against the people of Ukraine," Xhaçka wrote on Twitter.
Even official Zagreb has denied the claim that Croatian citizens have joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army as mercenaries in the fight against the Russian occupation.
The Croatian military attaché in Moscow, during a meeting with representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, where he rejected the note of protest, said that Croatian institutions do not have information related to the allegations made. (see here)
Part of the reaction of the Croatian military attaché in Moscow, translated into Albanian:
The Croatian Ministry of Defense and no other Croatian state institution has any connection to individuals who may be in Ukraine, or information about those individuals.
Some online media in Kosovo and Albania have distributed the news from the Russian TASS agency with the Kremlin's claim. (see here, here, here and here)
Analyze:
The Russian news agency TASS has published the Kremlin's statement regarding the claim that mercenaries from third countries, in particular from Albania and Croatia, as well as Kosovo militants and even jihadists with Syrian combat experience have joined the Ukrainian army.
This statement was issued after Russian President Vladimir Putin's telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
This political claim is not based on any facts, and it has been denied by political officials in Albania and Croatia.
From the fact-checking analysis based on the working methodology, hibrid.info has assessed this article as "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
A “Disinformation” rating is given to media reporting that contains a “mix” of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful content. This rating will also address reports that have incorrect attributions or headlines that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.