DISINFO: Over 11,000 foreign mercenaries fought on Ukraine's side since February 2022
SUMMARY
An estimated 11,675 foreign volunteers have fought against Russian forces since the Ukraine crisis began in February 2022.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that foreigners fighting for Ukraine are mercenaries.
Ukraine has called on experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion, whose members are regular soldiers of the Ukrainian army as opposed to mercenaries.
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. But the incorporated unit must be a professional fighting force, fulfilling the criteria spelled out in Article 4A(2) of GC 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."
Read similar claims here.