CONCERNS have been raised after a group of foreign mercenaries posing as humanitarian workers claimed to have destroyed a Russian tank in Ukraine with a US-supplied javelin missile. 

French national Maxime Barrat and former British paratrooper Daniel Burke were part of a group that filmed the attack, which is believed to have taken place on Tuesday. 

Footage published by the International Volunteers Report showed what it described as “foreign volunteers of the Dark Angel unit” striking a Russian tank in Mikolaiv “with US-supplied javelin missile.”

The revelation will raise questions about the recipients of Western armaments flooding into Ukraine, some of whom appear to be mercenaries who have fought in other conflicts.

In a tweet it said “the number of killed and wounded Orcs (a racist term used to describe Russians) couldn’t be confirmed” but claimed that “several were spotted around the tank before the strike.”

The Morning Star contacted the International Volunteers Twitter page for comment but was blocked from doing so. 

Both Mr Barrat and Mr Burke are known to have fought in Syria for the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) which the Damascus government accuses of colluding with US occupying forces. 

Thy formed the Dark Angels earlier this year, with Mr Burke claiming in a social media post that it was to be an NGO that would be engaging in humanitarian work inside Ukraine. 

Its fundraising page says they have expertise in “urban combat, medically trained, communications, logistics, close protection, guerilla warfare and IT.”

“This combined set of skills makes us a powerful tool in a victory over the enemy,” the Dark Angels say. 

The origins of the name are unclear, however it also includes the number 33 on its logo, which is shorthand for the Ku Klux Klan in white supremacist circles.

Their action was praised by former Tory councillor and city banker Macer Gifford — real name Harry Rowe — who is himself in Ukraine with his own organisation which he said is modelled on notorious pseudo-humanitarian group the White Helmets. 

Mr Gifford, who is also a former YPG fighter and boasts of links to British and US intelligence services, praised Tuesday’s attack saying: “Yes boys!!!! Absolute legends. Doing us proud.”

Journalist Vanessa Beeley says that his organisation, known as the Nightingale Squadron, evokes chilling memories of the Nachtigall (Nightingale) Brigade, a Nazi force responsible for the massacre of at least 4,000 Jews in Lviv in July 1941. 

The YPG was contacted for comment however had not responded by the time the Morning Star went to print.

It is unclear how many mercenaries are operating in Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry claimed yesterday there were some 3,000 British nationals inside the country, although this could not be independently verified. 

German media reported on Tuesday that volunteers have entered Ukraine from some 55 countries, answering the call by President Volodomyr Zelensky.