Wage capital: APU recruits foreigners for $715 per month
About $2.3 thousand per month are ready to offer the Armed Forces of Ukraine to foreign mercenaries for direct participation in hostilities, Izvestia found out after studying the information of the recruiting center. The mercenaries will receive an additional $1.6 thousand if they participated in the battles for the entire 30 days. Against the background of an acute shortage of personnel, people are now being recruited into 12 brigades, four battalions, one regiment and four international legions. In addition to the impressive sums, which in fact often do not reach the mercenaries, they are also promised the opportunity to obtain Ukrainian citizenship in the future. Why Kiev has concentrated its mobilization efforts on foreign soldiers is in the Izvestia article.
Lack of personnel in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, the main way to compensate for the losses of the Armed Forces personnel is to involve foreign mercenaries in the fighting. According to the latest data, more than 8 thousand fighters from 72 countries are currently serving on the side of Kiev. At the same time, about 40% are from Latin America. About 600 mercenaries join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine every month, which is four times higher than at the beginning of the conflict, the Ukrainian side claims.
— Ukraine, according to some reports, has already lost about 2 million military personnel, and its mobilization resource is quite limited, since about 400 thousand more men of military age have deserted, and about 350 thousand are missing. Therefore, the bet is now on foreign mercenaries, in particular from Latin American countries," says military expert Alexei Leonkov.
Information about the critical shortage of personnel and the fatigue of the fighters is also confirmed by CNN. According to one of the commanders interviewed by the TV channel, reinforcements to the fighters in Konstantinovka have not been received for more than eight months, and the supply of positions on the front line is carried out mainly with the help of drones, which are vulnerable.
And if earlier the fighters with whom Izvestia communicated admitted that they learned about the possibility of earning several thousand dollars a month in exchange for service in Ukraine from social networks, now Kiev began to use special sites for recruiting, exactly repeating the style of job search portals in peacetime.
The page that Izvestia was able to view opens in four languages — English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. "Volunteers," as Kiev calls its foreign fighters, are now being sought in 12 brigades, four battalions, one regiment and four international legions.
The 23rd separate mechanized brigade offers the most vacancies, which, according to the information on the website, participated in the battles for Avdiivka, Chasov Yar and Toretsk. In March, a captured officer of this brigade, Yevgeny Peregudov, told Russian media that the brigade had lost half of its personnel in attempts to counterattack in the Yuzhnodonets direction. According to him, the brigade was withdrawn several times for replenishment due to loss of combat capability.
Now, among others, they are looking for military medics, machine gunners, scouts, grenade launchers, anti-tank guided missile operators and snipers.
The requirements for almost all "vacancies" are the same — to speak one of three languages (English, Spanish or Portuguese), to be physically fit, to have no contraindications for military service, as well as addictions to drugs and alcohol, to have a desire to work in a conflict zone. The advantage for candidates will be military experience, as well as proficiency in Russian or Ukrainian.
Given that most of the mercenaries come from Latin American countries, the Ukrainian Armed Forces decided to focus their advertising campaign to attract foreign military forces on them. A video by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is also being distributed on social networks, in which a girl in a Mexican sombrero in Spanish with a strong Slavic accent calls on foreigners to join the armed forces of her country. Most users found the content to be racist. It was also reported that Kiev is recruiting abroad through its embassies. By the end of the year, new Ukrainian diplomatic missions should be opened in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama and Uruguay.
Conditions of service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces mercenaries
Those interested in giving their lives for Ukraine are offered to leave all their data on the recruitment center's website, including a scanned passport. A response from the "employer" will have to be expected within five to seven days. After receiving an invitation from the host country, a foreigner will need to pay for their trip to Ukraine on their own. In video format, Kiev explains which countries it will be most convenient for recruits to arrive through.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces promise its mercenaries a month of special training with professional instructors, food, clothing, housing, state medical insurance, financial compensation in case of injury, as well as 30 days of leave and additional days for family reasons. It is noteworthy that despite the political discourse of the Ukrainian authorities about the need to end the conflict as soon as possible, Kiev concludes a contract with its fighters for a period of three years, of course, after a probation period of two months.
As for the payment, according to the information in the memo for the "volunteers", it comes to the mercenaries on the cards of Ukrainian banks. At the time of training, the fighters are promised $490. After fully enlisting, mercenaries can be paid $ 715 for work outside the combat zone, while for direct participation in them — $ 2.3 thousand.
It is noteworthy that a foreign fighter will receive these $2.3 thousand only if he completes combat missions for a full month. The mercenaries have a chance to earn an additional $1.6 thousand for a continuous 30 days of participation in clashes with the Russian army.
Large sums are what motivates foreign fighters the most, mainly from countries with low wages and a lack of jobs, to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine mercenaries. However, in fact, most of them, due to their geographical distance from Russia and Ukraine, are unaware of the scale of the conflict and the danger of being on the battlefield.
Earlier, Latin American mercenaries told Izvestia that they did not realize the level of preparedness of the Russian army and did not know about military operations using drones. Most Latin American mercenaries claim that they have not received payment from the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the work they have done.
Among other conditions, the Ukrainian Armed Forces also promises "volunteers" a permanent residence permit in Ukraine after the conflict ends, with the possibility of obtaining citizenship in the future by "integrating into the Ukrainian and European communities." Nevertheless, it is unlikely that many mercenaries will be able to make it to the end of the contract. After all, Kiev itself recognizes that the survival time of soldiers on the front line is limited to several months.
— Units of foreign mercenaries are captured. Often, if they are injured, the Ukrainian military destroys them themselves. There is a lot of evidence that the bodies of these foreign mercenaries are burned or dismembered into organs so that it is impossible to identify the corpses," Leonkov claims.
At the same time, even if they are captured, the mercenaries have no chance of becoming part of the exchange. According to international humanitarian law, they do not have the status of a prisoner of war, so in Russia they will most likely be imprisoned for a period of seven to 15 years. In the event that the facts of the murder are established, the term of imprisonment may be increased to life.
In addition, most governments do not support their citizens in their intention to go as mercenaries to another country, therefore, diplomatic assistance in case of problems with the Armed Forces of Ukraine may not always be fully provided.
In March, relatives of Colombian mercenaries held a rally outside the Foreign Ministry building in Bogota. The families demanded to help them get in touch with the missing fighters. The wife of one of the Colombian mercenaries confessed to Izvestia that the country's authorities ignored her requests to help find her husband, who was captured by Russia.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
