Click to see the full-size image
Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
A group of hackers shared on the internet the personal data of several members of the Ukrainian Army’s Foreign Legion, including their names, ages, military experience, languages spoken and telephone numbers, as well as a section with personal comments. This expose will surely hit the already low morale of foreign mercenaries, who will likely leave en masse as conditions become astronomically worse over the winter.
The Telegram social media network channel Joker DPR, known for previously hacking the Instagram page of commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhny and accessing the Ukrainian military software DELTA, published the names and personal information of more than 500 applicants for the 4th Battalion of the Foreign Legion of the Ukrainian Army.
Joker DPR also found and published the passports of more than 50 mercenaries, including male and female US citizens and those connected to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence office in Ternopil, western Ukraine, something which has embarrassed Washington and shows that mercenaries are extremely vulnerable.
The Ukrainian Foreign Legion claims to comprise around 20,000 foreign people with military experience and knowledge. Kiev even opened a website for foreign fighters at the beginning of the conflict to help recruit. However, a year later, it was exposed that the Foreign Legion actually has 1,500 members, a far cry from the figures initially announced. It also turned out that many foreigners lacked military experience and knowledge.
According to German media, recruits for the International Ukrainian Legion are paid around 500 euros per month, and those fighting on the front lines reportedly receive a salary of 3,000 euros per month. Still, there were reports that foreigners had to buy weapons and equipment at a high price as Kiev did not provide these necessities.
“Give us some f*****g weapons please. We will not win with trash weapons,” James Vasquez, a US army veteran who volunteered in Ukraine, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in April 2022. “We need m-16’s, M-4’s, ACOG’s, red dots, ammunition, ammunition, ammunition, javelins, f*****g old AT-4s I know are probably in some storage unit. Frag grenades, and if not… may as well bring Body bags.”
The ex-US Army staff sergeant shared a video revealing he had modified his own AK-47 out of his own pocket, complaining that he was expected to “go into battle with just my drones, AK-47 and one grenade and nothing else.”
Former Legion mercenaries also complained about corruption in the Ukrainian military ranks and problems with the payment of salaries. Western media has also cited problems in raising funds to arm Ukrainian foreign fighters, waste of money, and mysteriously missing shipments.
Now, it was revealed that many mercenaries who came to Ukraine are leaving the country after witnessing violent fighting, US media reported, citing Ukrainian Armed Forces officer Dmytro Kostyuk.
Explaining how his platoon had manpower shortages and had to be supplemented with mercenaries, Kostyuk admitted to CNN on November 19 that
“For some [foreigners], it was the romance of war, for others it was a professional activity […] As a rule, they do not realise what they are getting into […] Foreigners are a different story, because they can easily terminate a contract, unlike Ukrainians. It happened to me – almost half of the people saw everything and said, ‘No, no, this is too much. This is not the kind of war we signed up for’.”
The Russian Defence Ministry has repeatedly stated that Kiev is using foreign mercenaries as “cannon fodder,” while the Russian military will continue to eliminate them throughout Ukraine. Those who came to fight for their own money have admitted in many interviews that the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not coordinate their actions well and that the possibility of surviving the combat is slim since the intensity of the conflict is not comparable to that of Afghanistan and the Middle East, to which they are accustomed.
However, not only Moscow has described the foreign mercenaries as “cannon fodder.” It is recalled that the Australian government warned on March 15 that foreigners fighting in Ukraine could end up being “cannon fodder,” which matches what British volunteer Matthew Robinson previously said: “[foreigners] can be railroaded into a legion and sent to the front line very quickly. Even though you’ve got the best of intentions to help people, you could basically be cannon fodder.”
Issues within the ranks of foreign fighters have been reported on since the very start of the war, as James Vasquez attests too, and with the two-year anniversary of the war only two months away, the latest revelation on CNN demonstrates that these issues experienced at the beginning of the war are far from being overcome, especially as Russia’s attacks intensify. With this winter expected to be especially difficult, it can be anticipated that foreigners will continue losing morale and a willingness to fight Russia for the sake of Ukraine, and the threat of having their private information publicly revealed could be enough to make them leave even sooner.
serves them right.
dikhead jens should go there
agreed. send jens holms to the front, he will last 30 seconds and will sh1t on his pants for sure.
call of duty rage quitters
they need you jens, you should go to help them. if you want i even will pay you a flight ticket to ukraine.
amundi expects russia’s gross domestic product (gdp) to grow by 1.5% in 2024 and by 2% in 2025, compared with 0.5% and 1.2% for the euro zone. “it means that the united states, europe, japan, australia – the major developed countries – are unable to sanction a country effectively,” amundi’s cio vincent mortier said at a news conference in paris on the fund manager’s 2024 outlook. “that’s what it means. we can deplore it, but it’s a reality.”
of course not. russia’s growth is driven by brics, which is larger by all measures. population, natural resources, surface area, population and through size even gdp.
as the president of finland stated in his speech: “the west must seek an equal dialogue with the east. the west is used to being the one who says, but in the future we will be the one who is told.”
if anyone expected to go to war like in afghanistan or the middle east — hey haloo! now we are not talking about any guerilla attacks in sandals and robes! now we have equipment that has been designed to match nato’s equipment for decades.
guided artillery munitions, tos-1, rbk-500 cluster bombs with molten copper, hypersonic missiles, mined border line, heavy equipment, drones… how can a mercenary be so stupid as to imagine going to “afghanistan” conditions?
because of jingoism in hollywood and military training/indoctrination. basically miseducated and psyop’d half-wits who didn’t have much intelligence to begin with. but the 1% want them dead just the same as the slavs. most of the mercs are poor and mongrels anyway. many are from third world shit holes. the ukrainian junta would even kill them themselves given a chance
in trailer park we pause my call of duty to sniff fentanyl whenever things get crazy
james vasquez was outed last year as a fake. he went to ukraine but never anywhere near the frontline. he begged for donations to help ukraine, which he kept for himself. he disappeared back to amerika. his media profile was a fabrication.
i wanna see the list of the 500 please find link.
call of duty losers rage quits lolz
track these disgusting contract killers and waste them.