Colombian mercenaries ‘dying for nothing’ in Ukraine – president

Colombian citizens who travel to Ukraine to fight as mercenaries are “dying for nothing,” President Gustavo Petro has said.

The Colombian leader took aim at Kiev’s use of foreign fighters in a post on X on Tuesday. He was reacting to a Ukrainian media report praising what it described as 7,000 Colombians involved in the conflict with Russia.

“There are 7,000 Colombian men, trained for combat, fighting in a foreign war and dying for nothing in Ukraine,” Petro wrote, adding that Colombia does not intend to “export death.”

Kiev has been actively seeking foreign recruits – described by Ukrainian officials as ‘volunteers’ – since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022. Colombia, given its long history of internal armed conflict and counterinsurgency operations, has become a significant source of foreign fighters.