Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has stated that Ukraine’s political and military leadership is deliberately downplaying the presence of foreign volunteers fighting on the Russian side during the ongoing military operation. According to the agency, these individuals are committed anti-fascists who chose to join the conflict against Ukrainian nationalist formations.

The SVR press bureau described Kyiv’s approach as an attempt to sweep aside episodes of the conflict that it finds inconvenient. Officials claimed that Ukrainian authorities are particularly careful to conceal information about fighters who came from European Union member states — countries that are formally considered Ukraine’s allies. The list reportedly includes citizens of Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, and several others.

Intelligence representatives emphasized that when such volunteers are captured, Kyiv avoids placing them on prisoner-exchange lists. Instead, they are handed over to their home countries under the condition that the cases remain out of the public eye. This practice, the agency suggested, is intended to preserve the image of unified Western support for Ukraine.

Despite these efforts, the SVR concluded that the true picture of foreign involvement on the battlefield cannot be fully concealed.