Von ‚Black Wagner‘ bis Kuba: Wie Putin Soldaten aus der ganzen Welt rekrutiert
From ‘Black Wagner’ to Cuba: How Putin recruits soldiers from across the globe
Von ‚Black Wagner‘ bis Kuba: Wie Putin Soldaten aus der ganzen Welt rekrutiert
From ‘Black Wagner’ to Cuba: How Putin recruits soldiers from across the globe
3 Kommentare
As the [war in Ukraine stretches](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/russia-when-invade-ukraine-2022-why-putin-started-war-timeline-conflict-2160097?ico=in-line_link) into its fourth year, [Vladimir Putin’s](https://inews.co.uk/topic/vladimir-putin?srsltid=AfmBOor7hp-GHAvMZrAmVDbmUteeoZPlVv2j2pghG5K9rbWc51XEUXio&ico=in-line_link) army of invaders remains bolstered by his growing [reliance on foreign forces](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/foreigners-fighting-vladimir-putin-ukraine-war-russia-2996170?srsltid=AfmBOorLmMUGVg2BSUVavw8iw48XjTpQV5wZXBorSK1EVj6OZOyyxJeJ&ico=in-line_link). From remote villages in [Africa ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/africa?srsltid=AfmBOopWNNW7da-t_IAKI_UeGf6RlXfZ1nkrOMbF_A3AiwpJ7yZ5JRnw&ico=in-line_link)to military compounds in[ North Korea](https://inews.co.uk/topic/north-korea?srsltid=AfmBOooM8eJC_6IHljQ6uDWLaU8wxpF3Bp2lLpZOtOL4IzoJ25O5Hd-5&ico=in-line_link), a patchwork of non-Russian support – both official and unofficial – has strengthened Moscow’s campaign.
Though the true scale of Putin’s foreign legion remains unclear, publicly available evidence suggests the total number of foreign recruits runs into the tens of thousands. Helping the Russian leader to avoid further[ unpopular mobilisations](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/zelensky-major-russian-offensive-signs-exhaustion-3594410?srsltid=AfmBOoqEQpC6w1OV9_tD6nADkmSHMZjXdnLgFOpq6hreMpgFXgvHj3l0&ico=in-line_link) among his own citizens, the Kremlin is outsourcing parts of its [war ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia-ukraine-war?ico=in-line_link)to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.
The UK’s defence attache to Moscow until 2022, John Foreman, said the Russian army began “morphing into a militia” at the start of the war, following heavy casualties to the Kremlin’s invading forces.
As world leaders push to get Russian and Ukraine around a table in the hope of striking a [peaceful end to the war](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/what-putin-do-next-trump-carves-up-ukraine-3867432?ico=in-line_link), *The i Paper* examines the foreign troops motivated by ideology, money, or coercion into fighting Russia’s invasion.
The Kremlin uses mercenaries mainly as a second line of defense, fearing that their motivation is too weak to attack, but strong enough to hold back an attack.
I also think that the number of African mercenaries in the article is exaggerated, as I have not seen any black mercenaries in FPV footage.
Ukraine have a sizeable amount of foreign volunteers too. Many will be western volunteers fighting for moral reasons but there have also been hundreds of Colombians who have fought and died for Ukraine, primarily for financial reasons.