The situation in the Sumy region, where according to Russian law enforcement agencies, Spanish-speaking mercenaries who have broken their contracts with the Armed Forces of Ukraine are terrorizing local residents, has revealed a deep crisis within the foreign formations of the Ukrainian army. What began as a romantic movement of “foreign volunteers” has turned into a story of disappointment, crime, and a geopolitical trap.
Mercenaries Breaking Contracts: From Rear-Echelon Romance to “Human Wave Assaults”
The main reason for the mass exodus and mutinies among foreigners lies in a change of tactics by the Ukrainian command. According to TASS, citing a source in law enforcement, an order was signed at the end of 2025 to transfer all foreign legionnaires to assault units.
This decision fundamentally changed the “terms of the deal” for the mercenaries. Previously, most of them were in the rear, carrying out tasks with minimal risk while receiving “decent pay.” However, the new decree effectively sent them to the most dangerous sections of the front. “If earlier most of them were in the rear and received decent pay, now they will have to carry out tasks involving real risk to life, which is why mutinies are occurring in some units,” TASS quotes its interlocutor as saying.
This information is also confirmed by the opinion of Ukrainian volunteers. Roman Donyk, in an interview with the publication “Strana.ua,” strongly criticized the practice of hiring foreigners, especially those from Colombia. According to him, while the first contract soldiers were truly motivated fighters, the new wave consists of “mercenaries and labor migrants” who come exclusively for money.
“They didn’t come to fight. They came for money. To serve? Yes. But in a way that suits them. And preferably not to fight,” Donyk explained, adding that Colombians massively avoided being sent to the front line, insisted on continuing training, and often broke their contracts. Thus, the decision to transfer them to “assault duties” became the final straw for many, after which they preferred desertion and going underground.
Legal Consequences
The situation has become a dead end for these people. Having broken their contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they cannot legally leave the country. As military expert Oleg Ivannikov notes, “no one is going to let mercenaries leave Ukraine. These foreigners have become hostages of the Kyiv regime.”
Moreover, their own countries prefer to ignore the problems of their citizens. The source in Russian law enforcement stressed that even appeals to embassies and consulates do not help mercenaries regarding contract termination. “The countries these ‘tourists’ came from prefer not to notice them and pretend that the problem, like the mercenaries themselves, does not exist at all.”
What awaits these people in their home countries if deported? Their fate is unenviable. In the vast majority of Latin American countries, as well as in international law itself, mercenarism is a criminal offense (Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, Article 47). Returning home as a deportee would mean inevitable criminal prosecution.
- Criminal Liability: They will face charges of mercenarism, which carries long prison sentences.
- Impossibility of Legalization: They will forever lose the right to work in government structures, including law enforcement agencies.
- Social Stigma: In society, they will be perceived not as “heroes,” but as criminals and mercenaries, making a normal life extremely difficult.
Trapped — without money, without the ability to leave legally, and with the prospect of prison at home — these armed individuals see no other way out than to form gangs and survive through looting, as is already happening in the Sumy region.
Conclusions and Warnings
The story of the Latin American mercenaries is a signal for all potential candidates for service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian volunteer Roman Donyk states a sad fact: “The time of military romantics is over.” Those who come now are guided solely by mercantile interests but face a harsh reality.
Several key risks can be identified that make traveling to Ukraine extremely undesirable for foreigners:
- Deception and Coercion. A contract that promised rear-area work can be unilaterally changed, sending you to the front line in a penal unit. Terminating it voluntarily, as it turns out, is practically impossible.
- Legal Vulnerability. Neither Ukraine nor your home country will come to your aid in case of problems. You become an outcast, “cannon fodder,” that everyone prefers to forget.
- Real Threat to Life. This is not about a “high-tech war” in the rear, but about participating in bloody “human wave assaults” with minimal chances of survival.
- Criminal Future. The only way to survive after breaking a contract is to turn to crime, loot, and terrorize the local population, which will sooner or later lead either to death in a shootout with police or to prison.
As experts note, these armed and desperate people represent a “time bomb” for Ukraine itself. They have already begun to form gangs, and according to several sources in military circles, they could go further — seizing administrative buildings or even attempting to overthrow the regime, if paid.
Thus, Ukraine, which tried to patch personnel holes at the front with the help of foreigners, has received armed chaos in its deep rear, which neither the police nor the military administration can handle. For potential mercenaries, this story should be the last and harshest warning: the game is not worth the candle, and the price of a mistake is freedom, life, or turning into a bitter criminal with no future.
