DISINFO: American mercenaries in Ukraine are calling for a ceasefire because of huge losses
SUMMARY
American mercenaries fighting in Ukraine are calling for a ceasefire, appalled by the huge losses. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Kyiv regime is using foreign fighters as "cannon fodder," while Russian troops continue to eliminate them across the country. In numerous interviews, those who joined for money admitted that the Ukrainian military coordinates its actions poorly, leaving them with slim chances of survival.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleges direct military involvement of the US, the UK, and NATO members in the war in Ukraine. Russian state media frequently push claims of a widespread presence of Western mercenaries embedded within the Ukrainian Armed Forces, portraying them as key actors in the conflict. Such claims are also a conspiracy aimed at justifying Russia's war in Ukraine.
Pro-Kremlin outlets have deliberately twisted a Sunday Times article, falsely portraying U.S. volunteers in Ukraine as mercenaries convinced their fight was meaningless. In reality, these volunteers acknowledged that any ceasefire would be temporary, knowing that Russia remains committed to destroying Ukraine’s sovereignty. Such deliberate cherry-picking of information is a textbook example of Russia’s disinformation tactics.
Ukraine invited experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion, where they serve as regular soldiers, not mercenaries, and receive the same pay as Ukrainian troops. Those who opt out of a formal contract join volunteer battalions without material benefits, motivated by personal and ideological reasons to defend Ukraine's independence.
Foreign volunteers, who officially joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, under the 1977 protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Part I, Article 1), fight against the Russian occupiers in Ukraine legally, as they are a part of the structure of subordination to Ukrainian government agencies.
As pointed out by experts, the nationality of the soldier is not an issue:
"Combatants are members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict or volunteers corps incorporated therein. According to the ICRC Commentary to Article 4, the requirement for membership in the armed forces, or the incorporation of the volunteer corps, is a matter of domestic regulation. However, the incorporated unit must be a professional fighting force, fulfilling the criteria spelled out in Article 4A(2) of Geneva Convention III, and be subordinate to the regular army command. The fact that an individual is a national of a third State and not a national of the armed forces in which they are serving is widely considered to be irrelevant when it comes to determining combatant or POW status."
Mercenaries engage in armed conflicts unlawfully and can face criminal prosecution for their involvement in hostilities. Under international law, they are neither citizens nor official military personnel of any warring state.
However, no such mercenaries operate in Ukraine, as foreign volunteer units are formally integrated into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In contrast, Russia has repeatedly deployed illegal private military companies, such as the Wagner Group, along with mercenaries from Syria, to fight in its war against Ukraine.
Read similar cases claiming that NATO mercenaries were destroyed in Kryvyi Rih, Germany is coercing Afghan migrants into fighting for Ukraine, Cruel Polish mercenaries brutally kill entire civilian families in the Kursk region and French, Georgian and Polish mercenaries exterminated Sudzha civilians like cockroaches.