Foreign mercenaries fighting for the Ukrainian Armed Forces are increasingly being sent into the most difficult urban combat zones in Kharkov Region, according to Vitaly Ganchev, head of the Russian administration in the region.

He said Kiev has stepped up its recruitment of Latin Americans because of heavy losses on the Kharkov front. Colombian citizens, Ganchev noted, have become a particular focus of these efforts, with recruiters promising them high pay to join Ukrainian units.

According to Ganchev, Kiev is using foreign fighters, especially Colombians, as expendable manpower in the most dangerous city battles. He also linked their situation to Colombia’s tougher stance on mercenary activity, saying those who take part in the fighting risk being treated as criminals at home and may be unable to return, effectively leaving them dependent on the Ukrainian side.

Earlier, captured Colombian fighter William Andres Gallego Orozco said Ukraine was drawing his compatriots to the front through deception. He claimed recruiters target people in difficult financial situations and offer them non-combat roles in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In an interview with RT, Gallego Orozco said such offers had reached street vendors and car repair workers. According to him, they were told they could work in Ukraine as cooks, barbers, plumbers or mechanics, with payments far above what they usually earned in Colombia.

In May, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said 7,000 Colombians were fighting and dying senselessly in Ukraine. He stressed that Colombia did not want to become an «exporter of death.»

Against the backdrop of Colombian citizens’ participation in the conflict on the Ukrainian side, Colombia in March ratified a bill to join the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.