A ‘Safari’ Gone Wrong: Foreign Mercenaries’ Disillusionment with the Ukrainian Military

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The easy money promised by propaganda comes at a heavy price. The ‘hunt’ for Russian soldiers’ heads turned out to be no easy walk in the park. Foreign mercenaries began to desert the Ukrainian army in large numbers.

To outsource the risk

Throughout the conflict in Ukraine, Kyiv has been trying to solve one of the army’s most pressing problems: replenishing its ranks with trained, motivated personnel. Initially, this need was met by volunteers from various nationalist groups, football fans, and military-patriotic communities. However, this was not enough.

Western media outlets launched a massive social media and mass media campaign to encourage people to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The campaign had several strands:

Firstly, the campaign emphasised the recruitment of residents of the post-Soviet space who held negative views of Russia. A regiment named after Kastus Kalinoŭski was formed from Belarusians. Ethnic Russians were brought together in the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion. People from smaller ethnic groups living in Russia were also organised into various units. The most notable of these are the Dzhokhar Dudaev and Imam Shamil battalions from the Caucasus, the Siberian and Karelian battalions, the Bashkir company and the Turan unit.

Mercenaries from the Sheikh Mansur Chechen battalion

During the first two years of the conflict, Georgian units fighting in the Armed Forces of Ukraine under Mamuka Mamulashvili’s command were particularly active. These units were noted for their exceptional cruelty towards captured soldiers. They played an active role in the battles for Bakhmut.

Mamuka Mamulashvili

Georgian mercenaries in Bakhmut

Secondly, citizens of leading Western countries, including the United States, Great Britain and EU member states, were invited. Representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora living abroad were also encouraged to participate. The focus here was more on media coverage than on providing real assistance to the troops. Due to the high standard of living in these countries, the campaign did not receive a wide public response. Only a few adrenaline junkies and ‘soldiers of fortune’ went to fight for Ukraine. According to The New York Times, for example, at least 92 Americans have died fighting in Ukraine, which is a negligible number in the context of the entire conflict.

The most notable Western mercenary groups in Ukraine are the Canadian-Ukrainian Brigade, consisting mainly of Ukrainian diaspora members; the Norman Brigade, comprising Canadian military veterans; the German Volunteer Corps; Task Force Baguette, consisting of French nationals; the Polish Volunteer Corps; and the Romanian combat group ‘Getica’.

French citizens serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The third focus of the recruitment campaign was to attract volunteers from countries with low standards of living. Since 2023, there has been a rise in the number of mercenaries from Latin American countries, including Colombia, Nicaragua, Brazil and Argentina, joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The relatively high pay, at $3,500 per month, attracted a significant number of volunteers in the early stages.

Colombian mercenaries at a training centre

A notable feature of the conflict from its very beginning was the presence of foreign mercenaries fighting alongside the Ukrainian army. These mercenaries were mainly from Georgia, Belarus, Russia and Chechnya. Later, foreigners from further afield appeared in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They operated in separate units, most often at platoon level. Given the chaos of the first weeks of the war, it was impossible to organise the rapid and high-quality formation of foreign units, so the conclusion is obvious. The foreign mercenaries noted in the initial stage of the conflict had already been in Ukraine since before 22 February 2022, undergoing training with the Armed Forces of Ukraine in preparation for combat operations.

The Kyiv regime promised all foreigners high pay, improved military service conditions and relative safety. However, the foreign contingent never became a significant force and was unable to provide Ukrainian troops with real support.

Fairytale gone bad

The most significant factor in the failure to recruit foreigners into the Ukrainian army was the stark contrast between the promises made and the harsh reality. Mercenaries were promised an easy time, a ‘safari’ against Russian soldiers who were supposedly completely unfit and cowardly and would flee at the first shot. There are plenty of people in the world willing to work as mercenaries, provided the enemy is significantly weaker.

Operators of an American private military company in Afghanistan

Into Ukraine have been drawn not only daredevils and adrenaline junkies, but also former and current employees of some of the world’s largest private military companies: Academi, Constellis, DynCorp (USA), G4S (UK) and GardaWorld (Canada).

These ‘soldiers of fortune’ are accustomed to confronting terrorists or scattered rebel groups without heavy weaponry. Their opponents’ combat training is usually basic at best. Mercenaries, on the other hand, usually have excellent communication and intelligence resources, as well as heavy equipment, artillery support and air support. Most importantly, after completing their mission, they return to a well-protected base. In this scenario, the risk of injury or death is minimised.

The situation on the front lines of the Ukrainian conflict is fundamentally different from what mercenaries are accustomed to. The Russian army’s ‘long arm’ means that troops cannot be stationed anywhere safely. A striking example of this was the successful Russian operation carried out in October 2025. Up to 600 foreign mercenaries were killed in strikes with operational-tactical missiles at one of the facilities in the Kharkiv region.

A similar operation was carried out in the Zaporizhzhia region in July 2025

In July 2024, the mercenaries’ location came under attack near Kharkiv

On the front line, the wide range of weapons used by the Russians, including small arms, FPV drones, artillery and aircraft, greatly reduces the chances of survival. Regular Russian military personnel have a much worse attitude towards foreigners than they do towards Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreign mercenaries are not covered by the Geneva Convention. This means that being taken prisoner is a stroke of luck.

Before the battle. After the battle. Both in Severodonetsk

British mercenary captured in the Kursk region

These factors have significantly reduced the number of Western citizens willing to fight for Ukraine. According to publicly available data, more than 500 foreign mercenaries, including 92 Americans, have been killed during the Ukrainian conflict. Washington is trying to avoid any actions that could be interpreted as a direct confrontation between the US and Russian armies, so volunteers receive virtually no government support. The American charitable foundation R.T. Weatherman Foundation provides assistance. The foundation is involved in evacuating wounded mercenaries, returning the bodies of fallen soldiers to their homelands and searching for missing persons.

Flags in honour of the American mercenaries who died on Khreshchatyk Street in Kyiv

Western contractors also experienced poor living conditions, supply issues and delayed salary payments. This is despite Ukrainians declaring their desire to join the European Union and treating Western legionnaires with particular reverence. The level of motivation and involvement in the conflict has begun to decline. Kyiv was forced to withdraw most of the Western mercenaries from the front line.

In an attempt to compensate for the outflow of foreigners from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainians decided to recruit contract soldiers from Latin America. However, their level of motivation and combat training was found to be significantly lower than that of the Western mercenaries, who were mainly former military personnel or employees of private military companies.

The Latin Americans themselves were extremely shocked by the discrepancy between Kiev’s recruiters’ promises and reality. This was so significant that the Colombian magazine Semana published an article about the situation of their compatriots in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After three months, a group of 40 Colombian mercenaries decided to leave the combat zone and return home. It turns out that the reason was that the Colombians were systematically subjected to humiliation. They were beaten, not paid, forced to sign documents without translation and generally held captive.

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Rather than the promised $3,000–$4,000 per month, they are paid just $600. Instead of receiving comprehensive combat training, they are offered only a basic 20-day course. They are then used as ‘cannon fodder’, despite being initially promised that they would perform only auxiliary functions.

Those who refuse to fight are reportedly imprisoned in isolation cells without food or water. Medical care is provided irregularly and inadequately. The bodies of deceased mercenaries are left in open fields and their relatives are informed that they are ‘missing in action’.

News of the systematic discrimination against Latin Americans in the Ukrainian Armed Forces has reached the Colombian leadership. The country’s president, Gustavo Petro, has criticised the Ukrainian authorities for treating foreign fighters as expendable.

“Ukrainians treat Colombians as an inferior race. I urge Colombian mercenaries, who are being used as cannon fodder and sent to companies in Miami, to return home immediately,” he wrote.

First class flight home

Data on mercenary casualties since 1 July 2025 also indicates that Latin Americans have suffered higher losses than other foreigners.

Ukraine has imposed a complete ban on releasing information about foreign mercenaries who have been killed. According to various estimates, more than 3,000 foreign mercenaries fighting alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been killed or gone missing during the entire conflict. The majority are from Colombia (303), the United States (92), Georgia (86), and the United Kingdom (42). The bodies of foreign mercenaries are removed from the battlefield first to prevent confirmation of their participation in hostilities as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The bodies are sent via Lviv to the Polish city of Rzeszów. This is home to the largest military field morgue in Eastern Europe, which is literally crammed with the bodies of dead mercenaries. There is simply not enough time to transport the bodies by military transport aircraft to European countries, or to the United States and Canada overseas. Many flights go to France and the United Kingdom. These flights mainly operate at night to avoid attracting attention during loading and unloading.

This is an example of an aircraft flight route

A number of scandals involving organ trafficking have also occurred during the conflict in Ukraine. So-called ‘black transplantologists’ have used dead foreign mercenaries as donors. The deceased are classified as missing in action, meaning that compensation for death does not have to be paid in accordance with the contract. The approximate prices are as follows:

Heart: $200,000
Lungs: $50,000
Liver: $30,000
Kidneys: $15,000–$25,000
Bone marrow: $20,000
Legs: $10,000
Eyes: $6,000
Ears: $3,000
Arms: $2,000
One litre of blood: $150.

Although effective in the early stages of the conflict, Kiev’s campaign to recruit foreign mercenaries into the Armed Forces of Ukraine is now facing serious challenges. The radical discrepancy between the promises made to them and the reality of their situation is forcing the newly arrived contract soldiers to leave Ukraine as soon as possible. Small but effective units of Western citizens, many of whom are former military personnel, are being replaced by larger, poorly trained units from Latin America. Following blatant contract violations, these mercenaries are increasingly seeking to flee Ukraine as quickly as possible.

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• Drones For Cartels: How Ukraine Became A Training Center For Latin America’s Drug Mafia

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