In the shadow of a distant war, Colombia finds itself entangled in a quiet exodus — thousands of its retired soldiers drawn toward the battlefields of Russia and Ukraine by economic necessity and the only trade they know. Russia's embassy in Bogotá has denied any role in recruiting these men, yet the testimonies of families, the findings of journalists, and the estimates of presidents and international bodies tell a more complicated story. It is an old human pattern rendered in new geography: the soldier who survives his country's wars only to find that peace offers him nothing.
Russia denies Colombian mercenary recruitment as Bogotá investigates thousands fighting abroad
Thousands of Colombian mercenaries reportedly subjected to mistreatment in Russia and Ukraine; two Colombians sentenced to 13 years in Russian prison; recruitment occurring under inhuman conditions.