More than 8,000 foreign volunteers have reportedly joined the Ukrainian Ground Forces, with the total number to be “likely at least twice as high” across all military branches.
Kostyantyn Milevskyi, the Ukrainian military’s Acting Head of the Department for Coordination of Foreigners’ Military Service, shared this with the Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske.
The number of foreign armed forces volunteers increased from 100 to 150 a month to around 600, which was “influenced in part by the fact that our Foreign Recruitment Center has now begun full operations,” said Milevskyi.
South Americans reportedly make up around 40 percent of foreign soldiers.
Foreign Recruits
Detailed information, particularly about which countries have contributed the most volunteers, is kept secret for security reasons.
However, the Ukrainian military revealed that a large portion comes from Colombia, with many of them serving in dedicated combat units.
One of them includes Ukraine’s 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade assault unit, comprising primarily Colombian fighters, in addition to volunteers from Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Peru, and Zimbabwe, United24Media reported.
While their motivations vary, many Colombian nationals said that the Kyiv military’s salary is “currently significantly higher” compared to their armed forces back home.
“These are also people with military experience, and they want to continue doing what they did in their home countries, and improve their skills here. And of course, to earn a decent salary,” Milevskyi said.
The Ukrainian government covers the transportation costs for volunteers heading to serve in the country’s armed forces, where South Americans typically sign six-month contracts, earning wages of around $3,000 to $4,000 per month.