TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Indonesia responded to issues about foreign mercenaries, including Indonesians, fighting alongside the Ukraine against Russia. The embassy admitted that it has no further details or information on the data released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Friday, March 15, 2024.

“We currently do not possess any specifics. Suppose we receive an explanation from the concerned authorities. In that case, we will undoubtedly share it with the Indonesian side," said Russian Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia Veronika Novoseltseva, when met by journalists at the embassy on the Russian election day on Sunday, March 17, 2024.

The data, distributed in the form of a table titled "Number of Foreign Mercenaries in Ukraine", reveals that the total number of "foreign mercenary soldiers" fighting in Ukraine since Russia's invasion on February 24, 2022, totaled 13,387. According to this data, 5,962 of them are said to have died.

This figure was immediately reported widely by the Indonesian media. The reason is, that the data shows that 10 Indonesian citizens fought as mercenaries for Ukraine, with four confirmed to have died.

When asked why the embassy deleted the "mercenary" data posted on social media, the Deputy Ambassador stated, "We deleted it because there were too many questions, but we also couldn't explain in detail."

Earlier, Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry said the information "needs further investigation" and urged journalists to request information from Russia.

"Please ask Russia about the data they have," the Foreign Affairs Ministry's spokesman Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said in a short message to the media, last Friday.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Ambassador to Indonesia, Vasyl Hamianin, also said he had no information about the data. "Nevertheless, I am aware that citizens from various countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America fight as mercenaries in the Russian army. It's all in the news, and it's all proven," he told Tempo via a short message on Friday.

NABIILA AZZAHRA

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