Russia claims US and British companies sending mercenaries to Ukraine

Private military companies (PMCs) from the US and Britain are involved in the selection and dispatch of mercenaries to Ukraine.

This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, RT reported.

"For them (mercenaries) shipments are attracted by the PMCs in the USA and Britain, and, of course, there are no sanctions, restrictions against them... there is no question," she said at a briefing.

Zakharova added that in the situation with mercenaries, international institutions, including the OSCE, the Council of Europe and NATO, are "joyfully silent", RT reported.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry has accused Ukrainian "militants of the nationalist battalions" of deliberately setting fire to a large granary in Mariupol's sea port while fleeing from Russian forces.

According to a ministry statement, the alleged act of arson was down to the unwillingness of the "militants" to leave grain supplies for Mariupol's residents. As a result, according to the military, more than 50,000 tonnes of grain were destroyed, RT reported.

"This inhuman crime demonstrates to the entire world community the true face' of the Kiev regime, which, in fact, uses the methods of food terrorism against its own people," it claimed.

The ministry said the destruction was committed as the "so-called civilised West" continues to support Kiev while accusing Russia of stoking a global food crisis, RT reported.

The ministry stressed that Russian forces during their "special military operation" support the civilian population, treat it humanely and "do not strike at the social infrastructure of the country, unlike the Ukrainian armed formations".

Since the launch of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Moscow and Kiev have accused each other of various war crimes, while denying their own liability.

The Donetsk People's Republic authorities had reported earlier that the firefighters failed to save the grain stock despite several days of efforts.