A member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' International Legion killed two US citizens while on a combat mission in Ukraine, according to internal Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) documents reviewed by RIA Novosti.

The incident is described in records from the SBU’s Military Counterintelligence Department. According to the document, Radek Bednar, an instructor with the 2nd Battalion of the International Legion of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense, called the SBU hotline on the night of January 23, 2025. He reported that one of his recruits had killed two Americans during a combat mission.

According to Bednar, after the incident, the commander of the Ukrainian territorial defense battalion hurriedly put the alleged killer on a train so that he could leave Ukraine. Bednar was unable to provide further details. The SBU employee who took the call noted that this was because he had a poor command of Ukraine’s state language.

The International Legion of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense was established at the initiative of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February 2022. It brought together foreign nationals from a number of countries. In February, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that members of the legion had been transferred to assault units of the Ground Forces.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly said that Kyiv uses foreign mercenaries as cannon fodder and that Russian forces will continue to eliminate them throughout Ukraine. Foreigners who came to Ukraine to fight for money have also said in interviews that Ukrainian forces poorly coordinate their actions and that their chances of surviving combat are low.