DUSHANBE, December 23, 2014, Asia-Plus – Tajik Embassy in Kyiv has denied a report by Russian media sources about Tajiks fighting alongside east Ukraine rebels as “absolutely baseless.”
“Information about participation of nationals of Tajikistan in combat actions in Donbass (eastern Ukraine) do not correspond to the facts. According to information from Tajik Consulate and heads of Tajik Diasporas in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, persons shown in video have never lived in these oblasts,” a statement released by Tajik Embassy in Kyiv says.
We will recall that an article “Muslims Fight in Donbass against Americans” posted on the Voronezh website 36.on.ru notes that its reporter on December 4 communicated with militants from Tajikistan “who voluntarily arrived in Luhansk Oblast to protect peaceful residents.”
The report says that nationals of various countries are fighting for Novorossiya. The reporter says he has happened to communicate with militants from Tajikistan.
At the beginning of the conversation, Tajik, who introduced himself as Mojahed, reportedly expressed gratitude to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for “antagonizing the whole Soviet Union.”
According to the report, the commander of the reconnaissance group of subunit 156, Talib, said, “Poroshenko has gathered here all Slavic peoples and we are now friends with them and together fighting for Novorossiya. Poroshenko has created the Soviet Union for us and all brothers are now together.”
Mojahed reportedly said that his brother with his family has lived in Novorossiya for already 12 years and he asked them to help him protect his home.
“I have lived here for a long time. I have two children; they were born and are growing up here. I took up arms to protect them against these parasites,” Talib said. “We do not fight for money. We are volunteers and we are fighting for independence of Novorossiya.”
Novorossiya (literally New Russia) was a historical term of the Russian Empire in 1764-1873 denoting an area north of the Black Sea (presently part of Ukraine). It used to be the Ukrainian Cossack heartland until the Cossack Hetmanate was dismantled. The region was conquered by the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th century from the Ottoman Empire and remained under its control until the October Revolution and the collapse of the empire in 1917. In modern terms this historic territory overlaid what is now Donetsk Oblast, small portions of Luhansk Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Zaporizhia Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Kherson Oblast, Odessa Oblast and Crimea in Ukraine; Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, Rostov Oblast, and the Republic of Adygea in Russia.
