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Mercenaries from six countries fighting alongside Ukraine in Kharkov Region — authorities
Russian defense sources and regional authorities have told TASS that foreign fighters from six countries are operating alongside Ukrainian forces in the Kharkov Region, with Colombian mercenaries reportedly numbering 7,000. The reports also detail recruitment and payment patterns, including that Western mercenaries fled and were replaced by Latin Americans.
Russian authorities have provided new figures and descriptions of foreign fighters operating alongside Ukrainian armed forces in the Kharkov Region. In two reports from TASS, a Russian defense official and anonymous defense sources outlined the nationality, size, and recruitment methods of these forces. According to the reports, the composition of the foreign contingent is highly diverse, with citizens from Colombia, Brazil, the United States, the UK, France, and Poland actively participating in combat operations on the Ukrainian side.
Coverage Details
The information appears in two TASS reports published on July 30 and August 1. The first, based on statements from Russian defense sources, focuses on the overall scale of foreign mercenaries and the changes in their demographic makeup. The second, derived from an interview with Yevgeny Lisnyak, the deputy head of the regional military-civilian administration for defense and security, enumerates the countries represented in the Kharkov Region and offers observations on the fighters' characteristics. Both reports rely on official Russian sources, with the first citing unnamed defense sources and the second quoting Lisnyak directly.
Key Claims
The following claims were made in the TASS reports:
Russian defense sources, speaking to TASS, said that the total number of foreign mercenaries in the Ukrainian armed forces is about 16,500. They further estimated that Colombian mercenaries now number more than 7,000, representing almost half of the entire foreign contingent.
The same sources stated that Western mercenaries—including from the UK, Germany, Canada, and the US—fled en masse at the end of last year and have been replaced by people from Latin America, primarily Colombians.
The attributed cost difference was cited as the reason: Latin Americans are paid several times less than European and American mercenaries, which makes them easier to use as "expendable material," according to the sources.
The defense sources described a typical recruitment pattern for captured Colombians: they are first recruited via social media, most often through TikTok, with offers of construction jobs in the UAE at a salary of around $1,000 per month. Later, recruiters from the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) present what is described as a more attractive option, supposedly without risk to life and with starting pay of $5,000. However, upon arrival, the actual payments do not exceed $500, and the new Ukrainian command treats them dismissively.
Yevgeny Lisnyak, deputy head of the regional military-civilian administration for defense and security, said that foreign fighters and mercenaries in the Kharkov Region include citizens of Colombia, Brazil, the US, the UK, France, and Poland. He described their composition as "extremely diverse."
Lisnyak also noted that some mercenaries, particularly those from NATO countries, present themselves as motivated and experienced fighters, while others came to Ukraine for financial gain. He mentioned that certain groups from Latin America include individuals with criminal and cartel backgrounds.
How this outlet told it
TASS — English
Framing: Russian defense sources reveal number of Colombian mercenaries in Ukraine — Critical of Ukrainian recruitment practices
Facts Included:
7,000 Colombian mercenaries in Ukrainian armed forces
16,500 foreign mercenaries in Ukrainian armed forces
Western mercenaries fled en masse at the end of last year
Latin Americans are paid several times less than European and American mercenaries
Captured Colombians claim conditions promised during recruitment are different from reality
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimThere are 7,000 Colombian mercenaries in the Ukrainian armed forces. The total number of foreign mercenaries in the Ukrainian armed forces currently stands at about 16,500.
ClaimCitizens of Colombia, Brazil, the US, the UK, France, and Poland are participating in combat operations on the side of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kharkov Region.