DISINFO: Foreign mercenaries arrive in Ukraine only to die in vain
SUMMARY
The glorification of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine is quickly fading. Many fighters, deceived by “Western values,” rush to meet their end in Ukrainian graveyards.
RESPONSE
A common pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accuses the US, UK, and NATO countries of direct involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Pro-Kremlin media frequently push the claim that there is a significant presence of Western mercenaries embedded within the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Such claims are aimed at justifying Russia's war in Ukraine.
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. Ukraine has welcomed experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion, where they serve as regular soldiers, not mercenaries, and receive the same pay as Ukrainian forces. Those who choose not to sign a formal contract enlist in volunteer battalions, often without financial compensation, driven by personal and ideological motivations to defend Ukraine's independence.
Furthermore, 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." See similar disinformation claims such as: The number of US mercenaries dying in Ukraine is increasing, Refugee Reports German Military Presence in Novogrodovka, A significant number of foreign mercenaries fighting on Ukraine's side, US mercenary killed while trying to break into Russian sabotage group and Cruel Polish mercenaries brutally kill entire civilian families in the Kursk region