Colombian mercenaries in Ukraine execute Russian POW

Colombian mercenaries fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) shot a captured Russian soldier, military blogger and analyst Kirill Fedorov said. Fedorov called on the Federal Service Bureau (FSB) and the Investigative Committee of Russia to pay attention to the incident.

According to the blogger, the Russian soldier was captured by Colombian mercenaries of the Carpathian Sich. It is unclear when the incident occurred exactly and where. Some time after the capture, the mercenaries carried out the order to execute the Russian POW.

"After being captured, they gave him some food to eat, but at one point an order came to shoot the soldier on the spot, allegedly in response to the fact that our troops had previously shot Colombian mercenaries," Kirill Fedorov wrote.

Fedorov attached a short video to his post, in which one could see a group of armed foreign mercenaries hiding in a ditch. The captured fighter with his hands tied behind his back is seen near them. The footage of the shooting itself was deleted, the blogger noted.

The analyst added that it was Colombian mercenary Carlos Quigua who told the story about the execution of the Russian soldier He allegedly shared the story during a live stream. His brother John was the one who carried out the order and executed the Russian soldier.

John had been eliminated, whereas Carlos had left Ukraine by now, Fedorov said and urged the FSB and the Investigative Committee to pay attention to the incident.

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A mercenary, also called a merc, soldier of fortune, or hired gun, is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests.
Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protection by rules of war than non-mercenaries. The Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted the same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap.