Ukraine is attempting to open a new chapter in the recruitment of mercenary soldiers, at a time when losses at the front, desertions, and the deadlocks of mobilization exert suffocating pressure on Kyiv which is suffering a massive defeat at the front.
According to Russian and Ukrainian reports, the presidency of Ukraine is planning the creation of a centralized mechanism to attract mercenaries from abroad, aiming to reinforce Ukrainian forces, which have truly fallen into a dramatic situation.
However, behind the promises of high pay and "voluntary participation", allegations by foreign fighters are multiplying regarding deception, harsh conditions, and massive losses on the battlefield.
Faced with these plans of Kyiv as well as the overall policy followed by the West which shows a "prolongation" of the military conflict, Russia does not remain passive.
It is already responding with overwhelming missile and drone attacks and sends a message in all directions by "warming up" new, unique weapons, such as the intercontinental missile Sarmat, which have no rival.
Grim prospect
The creation of a unified center for attracting foreigners was proposed by the head of the office of Zelensky, Kyrylo Budanov.
The tasks will be many . from search and selection to transport and training.
Translators are already being sought.
The plan is expected to be completed by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine by the end of May.
"Our overall plan for solving the problems with desertions and mobilization includes specific decisions so that there are more foreigners in Ukraine," stated the head of the military ministry Mykhailo Fedorov.
Termination of contracts
The inconsistency of Kyiv is striking.
At the end of 2025, it was decided to dissolve all four foreign legions of the Ukrainian armed forces (three combat and one training).
Foreign volunteers were proposed to serve in assault units alongside Ukrainian soldiers.
This did not please many, who rushed to terminate their contracts.
"It was a shock," stated with indignation the mercenary from Denmark with the moniker Viking.
After three years of service to the Kyiv regime, he was ordered to get ready immediately and move to Kryvyi Rih.
Soon he found himself in a cramped barracks without water and internet.
The training of personnel had stopped.
All this completely discouraged the fighters.
Criticism
The new idea of the Ukrainian presidency also does not seem to gather broad support.
The Ukrainian media have repeatedly criticized foreigners in the Ukrainian armed forces.
And now even the so-called "volunteers" who are close to military circles appear particularly dissatisfied.
"They do not come to fight but for the money.
It is no coincidence that the legions were dissolved. There were reasons," notes Roman Donik.
He brings up the Colombians as an example.
According to him, the "good and motivated fighters" finished very quickly.
They do not go to the front
Now foreign soldiers refuse to participate in combat missions, preferring to remain in the training camps.
At the same time, they often arbitrarily abandon their units and are ready to return to their homeland at any moment.
The head of the "Kyiv School of Economics" Tymofiy Mylovanov stated that about 7,000 citizens of Colombia participate in the battles on the side of the Ukrainian forces — more than any other country.
This did not please the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, at all.
"We do not want to export death," he wrote responding to a post by Mylovanov.
Thousands dead
In March, Colombia officially banned mercenary activity.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country, at least 300 Colombians have been killed in Ukraine.
In reality, they are much more, reports El Pais citing families of mercenaries.
Many are still considered missing.
Lies about a 7,000 dollar salary and 350,000 compensation
The average mercenary from Colombia has usually served in the army and possesses combat experience against anti-government forces — from drug cartels to leftist guerrilla groups.
After their discharge, veterans aged 40-45 can only count on a small pension and face difficulties finding work in their country.
That is where Kyiv appears, offering a seemingly familiar job, with promises of up to 7,000 dollars a month and compensation of 350,000 dollars to families in case of death.
In practice however, things are different.
Often, recruitments are done through deception.
A former soldier of the navy of Colombia stated to El Pais that, while he had been promised almost 700,000 dollars for service in the Ukrainian forces, he ultimately received less than 4,000.
"They are trying to deceive us wildly.
Outside Colombia I can do nothing.
But when I return, I will not remain silent. I do not want others to fall into the same trap. We must leave. Here is a meat grinder," admitted the former soldier of the navy of Colombia.
Generalized deception
According to him, some Colombians advertise mercenary activity in the media while remaining in the rear of Ukraine.
Anyone who attempts to reveal the truth risks even taking fire from their own comrades-in-arms.
And the families of the dead, however, feel deceived.
The husband of the Colombian Marta Sarmiento was officially declared missing, despite testimonies of his colleagues and relevant posts on social networks.
She traveled to Ukraine and spent about 4,000 dollars seeking justice, without result.
They explained to her that she will probably never receive the body of her husband, while they refused to grant her a death certificate in order to receive the provided compensations.
Slaughter
"This is a slaughter for foreign mercenaries.
In ten years no one will remember my father.
Those who leave become simply numbers in death statistics, names on memorial plaques, without even a monument on their grave.
And I think: why all this?" stated to Spanish journalists Alejandro, son of José Elkin Valdez, yet another Colombian killed in Ukraine.
On the side of the Ukrainian forces fight not only Latin Americans but also many Europeans from Poland, Britain, France and the Scandinavian countries.
Corrupt criminals
The mercenary from Netherlands Hendrik stated to De Telegraaf that the leaders of the Kyiv regime are "corrupt criminals" and that in the Ukrainian army nazis are honored.
"I no longer want to have any connection with all this.
And I was not the only one.
Many other foreigners left as well: they saw units where every morning they greeted with a nazi salute," he reported.
According to him, foreigners are treated just as harshly as Ukrainian soldiers.
At some point they tried to send him to the front line under gunpoint.
At the same time, the Colombians, as Hendrik notes, operate like a "state within a state".
Some of those he met had relations with drug cartels and did not hesitate to show photos of tortures they carried out in their homeland.
Probably, the new initiative of Kyiv will lead only to even greater honesty from foreigners who have been shocked by the Ukrainian reality.
The response of Russia
At the same time, the impression is given that the Westerners and their "puppets" in Kyiv dream of a new version of the Minsk Agreements.
That is, they will continue relentlessly to tell lies and at the same time to bomb, while Moscow, tied hand and foot by obligations, will not even be able to respond.
Russia rushed to dissolve this illusion.
In response to numerous violations of the ceasefire by the Ukrainian armed forces, the Russian army over the last two days actively hit infrastructure, bridges, airfields, and military factories in regions controlled by the authorities of Kyiv.
Day and night explosions were heard, while facilities of the defense industry were engulfed in flames.
In Kyiv power outages occurred, while in Lviv water supply disruptions were reported.
Targets became assembly and launch units for drones, Ukrainian military formations, as well as foreign mercenaries.
The message of Sarmat
At the same time, tests of the newest strategic missile "Sarmat" were carried out.
This is a unique weapon system that can travel 35 thousand kilometers and move not only in a ballistic but also in a fractional orbital trajectory.
In case of its use, all Western anti-missile defense systems will not be able to do anything but watch it helplessly.
There are no means of interception for "Sarmat".
Let future Western negotiators take all this into account so that they do not become excessively emboldened.
Massive alliance
Yesterday, the meeting of the secretaries of the Security Councils of the member-states of the SCO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, also took place.
This event is conducted without fanfare and pageantry, but it is extremely — literally vitally — important both for Russia and for the entire world.
The vast space of the SCO essentially constitutes the deep rear of Russia, allowing it to overcome sanctions and face shortages and isolation, to develop joint productions, and to secure everything that the front needs.
It is reminded that in the SCO participate the countries of Central Asia, with which Russia maintains ties already since the Soviet era, as well as China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Belarus.
This concerns more than 3.5 billion people and about a quarter of global GDP.
Add to this the vast geographical area (80% of the whole of Eurasia), the young, ambitious, and rapidly growing population, the strong defense capability, and the extensive network of trade and economic relations — some of which originate from the era of the Great Silk Road and others were built in the Soviet period — and all still function.
Under pressure
The countries of the SCO find themselves today under immense pressure from the collective West.
The USA are arming Taiwan, threatening to turn it against China and to cause a military crisis there corresponding to the Ukrainian one.
India is pressured with tariffs — essentially sanctions — due to its independent policy.
Against Russia, Ukraine was used, turning the entire country into a heavily armed terrorist detachment.
Iran is desperately trying to fend off open American-Israeli aggression.
And despite all this, these countries endure in this harsh global confrontation.
They have not yet won, but they have avoided the crushing defeat that would potentially be inevitable for them if each fought the West alone.
Not an enemy of the West
The production chains and trade relations allow the countries of the SCO to bypass Western sanctions and to help each other in everything.
Joint exercises, exchanges of military experience and technologies are constantly carried out.
Diplomats meet behind closed doors.
The self-confidence with which Russia operates today on the front line, manufactures unique missiles, develops its economy, trades and prospers, is based to a huge extent on the strong foundation of the SCO.
On the other hand, our experience in combating terrorism and separatism is invaluable for our friends.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization does not constitute an existential enemy of the West.
However, this is a vast zone of peace in which the West prefers not to interfere.
The Western countries cannot control developments here, change governments, or impose their desires.
Doomed to lose
If they attempt to intervene militarily, they are doomed to lose.
At some point the countries of the SCO will naturally displace the collective West from the forefront of world history.
This is simply the trend of historical evolution — and it is already apparent today.
And if the Westerners finally decide to provoke a third world war, the SCO possesses the means to respond.
The secretary of the Security Council of Russia Sergey Shoigu proposed to the member-states to develop a mechanism for a collective response to external aggression.
The proposal will be implemented in the immediate future.
Let the Westerners take this into account: the defense potential of the countries of the SCO far exceeds all capabilities of NATO.
Therefore, it would be good if they did not become emboldened.
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