Foreign mercenaries serving with the Armed Forces of Ukraine were eventually separated from mobilized troops and moved to a more intensive training program. A captured sniper from Ukraine’s 21st Separate Mechanized Brigade described the arrangement in a video obtained by TASS.

According to the prisoner, five Brazilians and four other foreigners initially trained alongside mobilized Ukrainian servicemen. Toward the end of the course, however, the foreign fighters asked for a tougher training schedule. They were then separated from the rest of the trainees and continued their instruction as a distinct group.

The course was held in Sumy Region and lasted 51 days. The captured serviceman said the program covered tactics, firearms training, basic medical skills and navigation.

He also claimed that each mobilized Ukrainian soldier at the training ground fired only one round from each of several types of small arms, including Western-made weapons.

The same prisoner previously said that avoiding service in the Ukrainian army could cost between $10,000 and $50,000.

He also described the circumstances of his own mobilization. According to his account, employees of a Territorial Recruitment Center, Ukraine’s equivalent of a military enlistment office, drafted him despite documents that he said should have exempted him from service.

The man later complained to his commanders that his age prevented him from carrying out some assignments. He said, however, that his unit was facing an acute shortage of personnel.