Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, much has been said about the participation of foreign mercenaries in this combat, especially to support the Ukrainian defense against the power of Vladimir Putin’s army.
Fairly, Former Colombian police officers and soldiers have been seduced by the war in that part of the world and by the salaries that have been offered to be part of troops that support the Ukrainians. in the war they wage against Russia.
Miguel Cárdenas, Colombian mercenary held by the Russian army
The man who appears in the video identifies himself, with passport in hand, like Miguel Ángel Cárdenas Montilla, born in 1991 in the city of Cali and as a former member of the National Police.
Likewise, he claims to be a member of the Ukrainian armed forces and assures that he decided to join those troops motivated by advertisements he saw on the social network TikTok.
“Since the trip. I started from Colombia looking at TikTok; I was looking, publications came out that they needed military volunteers and in the meantime, I was getting the money to travel.”explains Cárdenas, who also points out that he was first part of the 204th Battalion and then moved to the 59th Brigade.
The man, who is apparently being interrogated by the Russian army through a Spanish-speaking translator, He acknowledges that he served in the Colombian National Police and that he received very little training from the Ukrainian forces.
“We received routine range and advanced training in less than a week. Before entering battle point“In less than a week, we only saw how to shoot, the range, how to throw grenades and how to make an advance,” Cárdenas confesses before the cameras.
Regarding the endowment he received, The man from Cali points out, according to the video revealed by Sputnik, that he received a uniform, vest, a weapon, helmet, a kettle and gloves.
“Ukraine lied to us”: Colombian mercenary captured by Russia
Miguel Cárdenas pointed out that despite being on the line of battle with the Ukrainian soldiers, contact was minimal and was only limited to receiving food and taking refuge in a basement from the possibility of being attacked by drones.
“We didn’t have much contact with the Ukrainians, we went and received food and again we waited in a kind of basement and they wouldn’t let us leave because there were drones,” the former Colombian police officer explained in the video.
Regarding his capture, Cárdenas explained that he decided to surrender to the Russian army for several reasons, among them, having felt deceived by Ukraine and the desire to see his family again.
According to him, he surrendered voluntarily “because the moment has come when the truth is that my family is waiting for me, my children.”
The Colombian mercenary is the father of four children and at the end of the video he assures that the treatment received since His capture has been good and he has had sufficient food and hydration during the multiple transfers to which he has been subjected.. It should be noted that his whereabouts are unknown.
Given this, it is also necessary to indicate that the Colombian authorities have not expressed themselves and there is no known reaction from the Foreign Ministry or the Colombian Police, the entity to which this man who is now in the power of the Russian army belonged.
