In Colombia, the man earned $400, while Ukraine paid $3,000. That's why Jacob became a mercenary, but he didn't even suspect what awaited him. "The war is extremely brutal", he says. Talking about it also turned out to be dangerous.
Jacob regularly posts clips from the front in Ukraine on his TikTok profile. He is one of probably hundreds of Colombians fighting there. He was attracted by the salary - Ukraine pays $3,000 a month, he tells ARD. As a soldier in Colombia, he earned only $400.
The war in Ukraine is brutal
Despite the good pay, Jacob did not last more than six months in Ukraine because the war was extremely brutal: "When the Ukrainians send six drones, the Russians respond with 150," he told the German public-law media.
The man is now hiding in his home country because he has received death threats. Because of the war stories he shares on social media, he has damaged the business of intermediaries who recruit mercenaries from Colombia.
Soldiers from the South American country are involved in conflicts all over the world - for example in Sudan or as mercenaries for Mexican cartels. In the past, they have even fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Colombian mercenaries have experience of the civil war
Many of them are former soldiers who have participated in the decades-long conflicts in their homeland and have gained experience. Left-wing guerrillas fight in certain areas of Colombia against right-wing paramilitary groups and the country's army. Jacob himself has also fought against guerrilla groups and drug cartels.
Ukraine calls men like him "volunteers", not mercenaries. Applying for the Ukrainian Foreign Legion seems extremely easy - all you need is no criminal record, chronic illnesses and appropriate experience. Jacob says he was on the front line and worked as a medic. But the conflict in Colombia is harmless compared to the war in Ukraine. He has seen many of his comrades die. "They are fighting a world power there," he says.
Another fighter who returned from Ukraine, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he barely survived. "The ground is mined, and drones are circling in the air. When the soldiers try to collect the bodies of their fallen comrades, they are attacked. The scenario is like a Hollywood war movie," the man tells ARD.
A business of life and death
Colombian President Gustavo Petro wants to take action against this business. For him, mercenary work is a form of human trafficking that he wants to ban by law.
ARD spoke to Cielo Paz, the wife of a mercenary who is currently in captivity. Her husband, José Medina, makes very little money in his hometown of Popayan, a city in western Colombia. His family built a house, but could not pay the bank debts. So he chose to go to Ukraine. There, however, he came face to face with death, talking about drones and heavy artillery strikes. The man decided to return home. However, during a stopover in Venezuela, he was detained. The country's authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, is an ally of Putin, so he handed the Colombian over to the Russians.
The Russian propaganda channel Russia Today is distributing photos of Jose Medina in handcuffs. Celia Paz does not know when she will see her husband again. If Medina is accused of being a mercenary, he faces a long sentence. "They imprisoned us too - my family, my children," she says. "We cannot find peace. It is very difficult."
"Cannon fodder"
Recently, relatives of mercenaries protested in the Colombian capital, Bogota. They do not have enough information about the fate of Colombian fighters abroad. It is extremely difficult to return the bodies of the dead. Jacob advises his compatriots not to go to Ukraine. "They should not give in to promises of good pay. Colombians are often used as cannon fodder, and intermediaries trade with life and death," the man tells ARD.