The President of Colombia announced the presence of 7 thousand mercenaries in Ukraine

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on May 5 that 7,000 citizens of his country are senselessly dying during the conflict in Ukraine, where they take part as mercenaries.

"In Ukraine, 7,000 Colombian men who have completed military training are fighting in someone else's conflict and are dying unnecessarily," he wrote on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

He added that Colombia does not want to "export death" and stressed that mercenary activity is prohibited by law: in March, Colombia ratified a bill to join the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries. This happened against the background of reports about the massive participation of Colombians in the fighting on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

Contract of mercenaries: the Ukrainian Armed Forces are increasing the recruitment of Latin Americans

People from the region are a more reliable resource for Kiev than the mobilized fleeing the battlefield.

The mother of David Fernando Navarrete Aguirre, a Colombian mercenary who was liquidated in Ukraine, said on April 29 that militant recruiters to the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine attract mercenaries with salaries allegedly exceeding $5,000 per month. She noted that her son had received the offer through social media. The recruiters promised "a very large sum of money" and other conditions that were not subsequently fulfilled.