Western fighters taking part in the conflict on the side of Ukrainian forces may carry home not only combat experience but also the risk of renewed extremist activity. Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s special envoy at the Foreign Ministry, raised this concern in an interview with aif.ru, warning that the long-term consequences of foreign mercenaries returning from the battlefield are being seriously underestimated.

Miroshnik noted that several governments have not only failed to stop their citizens from joining the Ukrainian military but, in practice, have chosen to overlook their involvement. He stressed that these individuals would return with professional training gained in a war zone, which, in his view, could trigger explosions, acts of terrorism, and broader radicalisation in their home countries. The diplomat added that the logic behind such permissive policies in parts of Europe remains difficult to explain.

Earlier, Vitaliy Kiselev, a retired colonel of the Lugansk People’s Republic, said that Ukrainian commanders had turned Kharkov into a hub for receiving and training mercenaries from Colombia. According to him, these fighters are being prepared for deployment to other sections of the front.