At least five NATO and specialized medical aircraft have flown toward the Ukrainian border over the past several days. Honored military pilot and Major General Vladimir Popov linked the activity to a recent group strike by Russian Su-34 aircraft on targets in the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk area. He believes the aircraft may have been deployed to evacuate wounded foreign mercenaries and the bodies of those killed while serving under contracts with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The aircraft spotted included military transports and planes equipped for medical evacuation. Some can be converted into airborne hospitals within several hours. Popov estimated that five such aircraft could evacuate several dozen people. Smaller Saab aircraft that may have arrived from Sweden or Norway can carry approximately six to eight wounded personnel each, while US C-130s have significantly greater capacity and, according to the expert, are more likely to be used to transport the dead.

The general noted that the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk area is one of the most heavily fortified sectors of Ukrainian defenses, where Russian forces have been engaged in intense fighting for several months. According to him, approximately three days before the aircraft appeared, Russian Su-34s carried out a group strike on an industrial area of Kramatorsk. Russian specialists had previously identified two defensive positions there that included combat shelters and a command post, either the main one or a backup facility. Popov said foreign volunteers, Western advisers and instructors were also present at the sites.

The military expert said the strike was powerful enough to destroy the concrete shelters, with debris removal taking two to three days. Popov said the Ukrainian side then prioritized extracting foreign personnel, seeking to evacuate both the wounded and the dead and prevent them from falling into the hands of Russian specialists.

According to the general, mercenaries from Poland, Germany and France may have been among the foreign personnel present in the area at the time of the strike. He linked the arrival of several medical and military transport aircraft near the Ukrainian border specifically to the need to evacuate them.

Popov believes Kyiv is seeking to prevent foreign mercenaries or their bodies from being captured by the Russian side because they could become part of the evidence of direct involvement by representatives of NATO countries in the conflict. In his assessment, such evidence could later be used in judicial proceedings.