Mercenaries or Volunteers? Economic Pain Pushes Colombian Veterans to Ukraine

Hundreds of experienced fighters have joined Kyiv’s ranks to improve their financial fortunes, reflecting the recruitment struggles faced by both sides of the conflict.



Maria Cubillos, at home in Neiva, Colombia, holds a photograph of her husband, Manuel Barrios who was killed in Ukraine after joining Ukraine’s fight against Russia.Credit...Federico Rios for The New York Times
By Anatoly Kurmanaev and Isayen Herrera
Anatoly Kurmanaev and Isayen Herrera interviewed retired Colombian soldiers and their relatives in Neiva and Florencia, Colombia.

Nov. 2, 2023, 12:01 a.m. ET
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Manuel Barrios joined the battle against Russian forces in Ukraine because a bank threatened to repossess his home in Colombia. Luis Alejandro Herrera returned to the front to recover the savings he lost in a failed attempt to enter the United States through Mexico. Jhoan Cerón fought to provide for his toddler. All three died in a war that their relatives said they knew or cared little about.

They were among hundreds of Colombian veterans who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine for the chance to make at least three times what they can earn at home. “He said he was fighting a war in a country that wasn’t his because of the dire need,” said Mr. Barrios’s wife, Maria Cubillos.

The stories of Colombian volunteers highlight the shifting nature of the Ukraine war, which has transformed from a fast-moving struggle for national survival into a war of attrition. Heavy losses and stalemated battles are forcing both sides to look for new pools of fighters to replenish their ranks. For Ukraine, the mainly Western foreign volunteers who arrived last year because of moral conviction, a search for adventure or a hatred of Russia are being supplemented by fighters from poorer nations that more closely resemble the legal definition of mercenaries — soldiers driven to foreign conflicts by financial gain.

“I would venture to say that not one Colombian has gone there to defend democracy,” said Cristian Pérez, who retired as a sniper in Colombia’s Army, worked under private security contracts abroad and is considering fighting in Ukraine. “I don’t believe they have even heard of Ukraine before the war. Everything comes down to economic motivations.”

More:
https://web.archive.org/web/20231102044006/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/world/americas/colombia-soldiers-ukraine-war.html