Dozens of German extremists go to fight in Ukraine

The German Foreign Ministry has reported that dozens of Germans have left to fight in the war in Ukraine since February 2022.

Source: Welt am Sonntag with reference to the German Foreign Ministry, as reported by European Pravda

Details: In total, German security authorities recorded 61 persons "who have connections with extremism or politically motivated crimes" leaving the country.

A total of 39 people are reported to have left Germany "intending to participate in hostilities", including 27 pro-Russian and 12 pro-Ukrainian soldiers. The authorities have information confirming that the vast majority of these extremists took part in hostilities.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this number includes both right-wing and left-wing extremists.

The actual number of German volunteers fighting in Ukraine is greater. German authorities, however, only collect information on individuals associated with extremism. In addition, there are many ex-soldiers in the Ukrainian army who joined the International Legion. Some of those soldiers previously trained in the Bundeswehr.

The spokesperson of the German Federal Ministry of Justice said that in general, participation in hostilities in Ukraine is not punished by law "as long as they do not act as mercenaries, but as members of the regular armed forces or equivalent volunteer corps and militias".

However, this does not protect anyone against investigation of possible war crimes. The federal prosecutor did not want to comment on whether there will be appropriate proceedings against the extremists who left the country.

Roderich Kiesewetter, Foreign Policy Expert from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel, has criticised the prosecutors' reluctance. "People or extremists who voluntarily join the Russian Armed Forces or terrorist groups to take part in the war in Ukraine should be prosecuted upon their return to Germany," he said.

As we can assume that these militants "systematically participated in war crimes and crimes against human rights".

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