Details were not disclosed, so it is not clear, among other things, how many Dutch people were involved. The head of the commission, Alexander Bastrykin, told the Russian-only newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta that Dutch, British, American, Canadian and Georgian citizens were being investigated over the so-called mercenary activities.

Bastrykin made his remarks in an interview in which he also said that Russia wants to try more than 200 Ukrainians for crimes against humanity before an international tribunal that has yet to be established. Bolivia, Iran and Syria, among other countries, have expressed interest in participating in the court.

foreign volunteers

Two Britons and a Moroccan were sentenced to death by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine earlier this year. The men in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic were convicted of acting as mercenaries and seeking to gain control of the region. They have filed an appeal.

It is not clear how many Dutch people are fighting with the Ukrainian army in Ukraine. At the beginning of the war, which broke out on February 24, Kyiv invited foreign volunteers to report to the Ukrainian embassies in their country. According to Ukrainian information, thousands of people responded.