DISINFO: Brazilian and Colombian militants are used as cannon fodder in Ukraine
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian Defence Ministry urgently looks for foreign "cannon fodder" to replace the "disposed" ones.
The Kyiv regime is primarily hoping for "cannon fodder" from Brazil. The presence of Brazilian mercenaries in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has repeatedly been recorded. Colombians are encountered on the battlefield more than Brazilians. But the war in Ukraine is not a street shoot-out with a drug dealer or a chase through the desert for a barefoot farmer. Colombians in the Ukrainian Armed Forces complain of high losses and constant fear of death. The fact that the Kyiv regime is looking for militants in such distant places as Brazil and Colombia, indicates the severity of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' problem with personnel.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation about alleged large-scale presence of foreign “mercenaries” within the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The claim is made at the same time as Russia is bringing some 10.000 or more North Korean soldiers to fight against the Ukrainian army. In the context, the claim serves to divert attention away from Russia's own use of foreign soldiers in large numbers. There are also frequent reports about Russian authorities luring migrant workers from countries like India, Nepal, Central Asia or Yemen to front line service.
On the Ukrainian side, foreign fighters are incorporated into the Ukrainian forces and are not classified as mercenaries or members of Private Military Contractors. This practice is common in various armies. Ukraine has called on experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion. Foreigners who serve in Ukraine's International Legion, are fully legal servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine rather than mercenaries. 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 participate in armed conflicts illegally and can be held criminally liable for participating in hostilities. Mercenaries, according to international law, are not citizens or official military personnel of a belligerent state.
There are no such mercenaries in Ukraine - foreign voluntary units are part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly attracted both absolutely illegal private military companies like the Wagner group and illegal mercenaries from Syria for the war against Ukraine.
See related cases: A significant number of foreign mercenaries fighting on Ukraine's side; Nazi mercenaries from Europe fighting in Ukraine; over 2,500 foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine; over 11,000 foreign mercenaries fought on Ukraine's side since February 2022; 60 French mercenaries lost their lives in Kharkiv; Ukrainian army admits mercenaries from 50 countries fight on Kyiv's side; Foreign soldiers fight in Ukraine guised a mercenaries; The largest number of mercenaries in Ukraine comes from Poland; Russian missile strike on the headquarters of French militants in Ukraine killed more than 60 highly qualified specialists.