KYIV
\nMelodic Colombian Spanish fills a hospital treating soldiers wounded fighting Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.
\nUkraine\u2019s ranks are depleted by two years of war. As it battles the Russian war machine, Ukraine is welcoming hardened fighters from one of the world\u2019s longest-running conflicts.
\nProfessional soldiers from Colombia bolster the ranks of volunteers from around the world who have answered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s call for foreign fighters to join his nation\u2019s war with Russia.
\nA 32-year-old from the city of Medellin was trying to save a colleague wounded in three days of heavy fighting with Russian forces. Russian drones attacked the group and shrapnel from a grenade dropped by one pierced his jawbone.
\n\u201cI thought I was going to die,\u201d said the man, who goes by the call sign Checho. The fighters insisted on being identified by their military call signs because they feared for their safety and that of their families.
\n\u201cWe got up and decided to run away from the position to save our lives,\u201d Checho said. \u201cThere was nowhere to hide.\u201d
\nColombia\u2019s military has been fighting drug-trafficking cartels and rebel groups for decades, making its soldiers some of the world\u2019s most experienced.
\nWith a military of 250,000, Colombia has Latin America\u2019s second-largest army, after Brazil\u2019s. More than 10,000 retire each year. And hundreds are heading to fight in Ukraine, where many make four times as much as experienced non-commissioned officers earn in Colombia, or even more.
\n\u201cColombia has a large army with highly trained personnel but the pay isn\u2019t great when you compare it to other militaries,\u201d said Andr\u00e9s Mac\u00edas of Bogota\u2019s Externado University, who studies Colombian work for military contractors around the world.
\nRetired Colombian soldiers began to head overseas in the early 2000s to work for US military contractors protecting infrastructure including oil wells in Iraq. Retired members of Colombia\u2019s military have also been hired as trainers in the United Arab Emirates and joined in Yemen\u2019s battle against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
\nColombia\u2019s role as a recruiting ground for the global security industry also has its murkier, mercenary corners: Two Colombians were killed and 18 were arrested after they were accused of taking part in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Mo\u00efse.
\nAt the military hospital normally treating wounded Ukrainian soldiers, a group of about 50 Colombian fighters spend most of their time staring at their phone screens \u2014 calling home, browsing the Internet and listening to music in between meals and medical procedures, most for light injuries.
\nAs the two-year mark in the war approaches, Ukraine\u2019s forces are in a stalemate with Russia\u2019s. Ukraine is now expanding its system allowing people from around the world to join the army, said Oleksandr Shahuri, an officer of the Department of Coordination of Foreigners in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
\nIn early 2022, authorities said 20,000 people from 52 countries were in Ukraine. Now, in keeping with the secrecy surrounding any military numbers, authorities will not say how many are on the battlefield but they do say fighters\u2019 profile has changed.
\nThe first waves of volunteers came mostly from post-Soviet or English-speaking countries. Speaking Russian or English made it easier for them to integrate into Ukraine\u2019s military, Shahuri said.
\nLast year the military developed an infrastructure of Spanish-speaking recruiters, instructors and junior operational officers, he added.
\nHector Bernal, a retired ex-combat medic who runs a center for tactical medicine outside Bogota, says that in the last eight months he\u2019s trained more than 20 Colombians who went on to fight in Ukraine.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re like the Latin American migrants who go to the US in search of a better future,\u201d Bernal said. \u201cThese are not volunteers who want to defend another country\u2019s flag. They are simply motivated by economic need.\u201d
\nWhile generals in Colombia get around $6,000 a month in salaries and bonuses, the same as a government minister, the rank and file gets by on a much more modest income.
\nCorporals in Colombia get a basic salary of around $400 a month, while experienced drill sergeants can earn up to $900. Colombia\u2019s monthly minimum wage is currently $330.
\nIn Ukraine any member of the armed forces, regardless of citizenship, is entitled to a monthly salary of up to $3,300, depending on their rank and type of service. They are also entitled to up to $28,660 if they are injured, depending on the severity of the wounds. If they are killed in action, their families are due $400,000 compensation.
\nChecho says principle drove him to travel to Kyiv last September. He estimates that in his unit alone, there were around 100 other fighters from Colombia who had made the same journey.
\n\u201cI know that there are not many of us, but we try to give the most we have in order to make things happen and to see a change as soon as possible,\u201d he said.
\nIn Colombia, word about recruitment to the Ukrainian army spreads mostly through social media. Some of the volunteers who already fight in Ukraine share insights on the recruitment process on platforms such as TikTok or WhatsApp.
\nBut when something goes wrong, getting information about their loved ones is hard for relatives.
\nDiego Espitia lost contact with his cousin Oscar Triana after Triana joined the Ukrainian army in August 2023. Six weeks later, the retired soldier from Bogota stopped posting updates on social media.
\nWith no Ukrainian embassy in Bogota, Triana\u2019s family reached out for information from the Ukrainian embassy in Peru and the Colombian consulate in Poland \u2014 the last country Triana passed through on his way into Ukraine. Neither responded.
\n\u201cWe want the authorities in both countries to give us information about what happened, to respond to our emails. That is what we are demanding now,\u201d Espitia said.
\nThe Associated Press tracked down a Colombian fighter who uses the call sign Oso Polar \u2014 Polar Bear \u2014 and says he was the last person to see Triana alive on October 8, 2023. He says Triana\u2019s unit was ambushed by Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, after which his fate was unknown.
\nThe Ukrainian military unit where Triana was serving confirmed to The Associated Press that Triana is officially missing, but would not disclose any details surrounding the circumstances in which he disappeared.
\nEspitia, his cousin, says he\u2019s not sure what motivated Triana to fight in Ukraine. But the 43-year-old had served in the Colombian army for more than 20 years and leaving it had been \u201cmentally difficult,\u201d Espitia said.
\n\u201cIt could\u2019ve been for the money, or because he missed the adrenaline of being in combat. But he didn\u2019t open up very much about his reasons for going,\u201d Espitia said.
\nAfter almost three weeks in the hospital, Checho has returned to Ukraine\u2019s front line. So have more than 50 other Colombian fighters who were treated in the same facility.
\n\u201cThe situation here is hard,\u201d Checho told AP. \u201cWe are under constant bombardment, but we will keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV Melodic Colombian Spanish fills a hospital treating soldiers wounded fighting Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine\u2019s ranks are depleted by two years of war. As it battles the Russian war machine, Ukraine is welcoming hardened fighters from one of the world\u2019s longest-running conflicts. Professional soldiers from Colombia bolster the ranks of volunteers from around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386439,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-386428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n