Russian Scouts Capture Foreign Contractor Personnel in Donetsk

<p >Scouts operating under the Russian Army’s Battlegroup East captured foreign contractor personnel while fighting for to capture settlement of Karla Marksa in the disputed Donetsk region. The settlement was reported on July 13 to have been captured by Russian forces, placing advancing units on track to capturing the administrative borders of the Russian claimed territory. Speaking to state media, a scout with the callsign Husky reported regarding the capture of foreign personnel: "The group’s commander captured several troops, who turned out to be foreign mercenaries.” These personnel having been stationed in a building that Russian forces seized in approximately five minutes. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/07/14/article_6874faa5e428c9_41147101.jpg" title="Polish Volunteer Corps Personnel in Ukraine"></p><p >Russia has been able to reinforce frontline positions in Donetsk and other regions since it expelled Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region in April, with the particularly extreme casualties suffered during the assault on Kursk, including in many of the Ukrainian Army’s most elite units, reported to have weakened its forces across the frontlines. Western contractor personnel <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/contractors-kursk-polish-french-details">played significant roles</a> in supporting the Kursk campaign, while North Korean <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-foreign-minister-thanked-heroic-korean-people-army-kursk">material and manpower support</a> played a central role in allowing Russia to defeat the incursion. The American Forward Observations Group American military organisation was among the contractor groups which saw the deployment of its personnel in Kursk confirmed. Ukrainian personnel involved in the Kursk operation attested to the presence of personnel from NATO member states in the offensive. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/07/14/article_6874fb14d369e3_55299868.jpg" title="Georgian Legion Personnel in Ukraine"></p><p >The significant <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/foreign-combatants-donbas-battles-russia" >presence of foreign contractors </a>has been reported from multiple fronts in the Russian-Ukrainian War since full scale hostilities broke out in early 2022, with contractors<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/colombian-polish-ukrainian-defences-sumy" > from Colombia and Poland</a> recently reported to have been reported to be playing a particularly important role in strengthening Ukrainian defences in the Sumy region. Alongside contractors, active duty personnel such as the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/royal-marines-fighting-russia-months" >British Royal Marines</a> have also been deployed, as have <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/georgian-legion-examine-militia-ukraine" >ideological volunteer units</a> such as the Georgian Legion.The Russian Armed Forces have consistently <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-personnel-ukraine-strikes" >singled out </a>Western personnel for precision strikes, with a notable example being a<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/strike-ukraine-french-contractors-africa" > strike on the headquarters</a> of European contractors, predominantly of French origin, on January 16, 2024, which  caused at least 80 casualties 60 or more of which were killed. These personnel were “highly trained specialists who work on specific weapons systems too complex for the average Ukrainian conscripts,” according to Russian state media reports.</p>