The Tajik Foreign Ministry on April 6 rejected a statement by the director of Russia’s Security Council that Ukraine has recruited mercenaries in Tajikistan, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported.
Nikolai Patrushev earlier last week accused officials of the Ukrainian Embassy in Dushanbe of recruiting mercenaries to participate in military operations, including against Russia. He made the statement in Kazakhstan at a meeting of secretaries of security councils in the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Shahin Samadi, a representative of the Tajik Foreign Ministry, said on April 6 that Patrushev’s statement “has no basis.”
