 Undercover NATO personnel fighting in Ukraine, Russian general NATO soldiers are fighting against the Russian army in the Ukraine conflict disguised as mercenaries a senior Russian defense official has claimed days after Moscow dealt a major blow to Kiev with the capture of the key Donbass city of Avdeevka. Ukraine's shelling of Russian civilians, a significant part of which was carried out from Avdeevka in the years prior, is happening at Kiev's behest and with the tacit consent of Western states, the deputy head of the Russian general staff, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy told Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. The US and its allies pump Ukraine full of weapons and provide it with communications services and intelligence information, but some of the equipment requires qualified Western personnel on the ground, the official said. NATO soldiers disguised as mercenaries participate in the military operations, they control air defense systems, operational tactical missiles and multiple launch rocket systems and enter into assault detachments. Rudskoy said, according to him, NATO officers directly prepare military operations for the Ukrainian armed forces. Russia says that more than 5,900 foreign mercenaries have died in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022.