Seven thousand Colombians with military training are fighting and dying needlessly in Ukraine, participating in a foreign conflict.
This was stated by Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
„Seven thousand Colombian citizens with military training are fighting in a foreign war and dying senselessly in Ukraine.
We do not want to export death.
Mercenary activity is prohibited by law“, the head of state wrote in X.
The number of foreign soldiers in the conflict in Ukraine is estimated at tens of thousands, and they are distributed between the two warring parties under very different conditions of service and numbers.
The situation with foreign volunteers in Ukraine underwent a significant change in early 2026.
Initially, over 20,000 volunteers joined the International Legion, but in reality several thousand served on the front at the same time. In late 2025 and early 2026, the Ukrainian command began a process of disbanding the International Legion as a separate structure of the Ground Forces. Foreign fighters are either integrated directly into regular Ukrainian brigades (such as the 3rd Assault Brigade) or transferred to the Legion under the command of the GUR (military intelligence).
Currently, the largest contingent is from South America (mainly Colombia), followed by volunteers from Poland, the United States, Georgia, and Belarus.
Russia massively uses foreign citizens, often recruited through financial incentives or coercion. Ukrainian intelligence has identified over 28,300 foreigners from 136 countries who have signed contracts with the Russian army.
In addition to individual volunteers, about 14,100 regular soldiers from North Korea are deployed in the combat zone on the basis of bilateral agreements. The largest groups are from Central Asia (over 10,000 people from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, etc.), South Asia (around 1,800), Africa (over 1,700) and Latin America (over 1,000).
Moscow plans to recruit another 18,500 - 19,000 foreigners by the end of the year to make up for its losses.