Too many casualties! Foreign mercenaries are rapidly evacuating Ukraine!
On October 24, Major General Araultinov of the Russian Military and Political Administration stated that due to excessive casualties on the Ukrainian battlefield, more and more foreign mercenaries are evacuating the battlefield!
This high level of casualties is a hard-earned lesson from the war. Take for example Seversk in the Donbas front in May 2024, when Russia's "Kinzhal" drones took to the sky, leaving no way for the mercenaries to survive.
Within three days, 5,000 British mercenaries were surrounded and fought, suffering heavy casualties, with 23 commanders killed on the spot, including several retired officers and instructors from Britain and Canada.
A captured British mercenary later admitted that before coming, he was told he would just be a "military advisor," but once there, he saw helicopters carrying corpses every day. What kind of advisor was that? It was clear they were coming to die.
There was also a group of mercenaries from the American "Mozart" company, equipped with Humvee armored vehicles, who thought they could fight well, but after being targeted by the Russians, they were heavily attacked. Seven of them were seriously injured and captured, while the rest either died or fled.
After the battle in Kursk, it became even more obvious. 3,000 mercenaries directly evacuated through negotiations. This wasn't a battle; it was clearly about saving their lives.
It should be known that as early as 2022, the first batch of mercenaries didn't even last a week. The Russians bombarded training bases near Lviv, resulting in hundreds of mercenaries from Europe, the United States, and Canada being killed or injured. At that time, everyone should have realized how dangerous this battlefield was.
But those who came later still couldn't escape. In late October 2025, in Konstantinovka, the Russians encountered Polish mercenaries. They didn't last long, with many dead or wounded, and the rest ran away. A Russian platoon leader said, "These mercenaries run faster than anyone."
Why are the casualties so severe? Major General Araultinov didn't say explicitly, but the situation on the front line speaks for itself. On one hand, the Russian military is now specifically targeting mercenaries, having precisely struck over 100 times at their bases, command posts, and gathering points, giving them no chance to catch their breath.
Those experienced veterans who had served in the military found that their experience was useless here. Drones are everywhere, and once targeted, they can't react in time and get blown up. The battlefield experience of British veterans was all in vain against the drones.
Even more disheartening for the mercenaries was the treatment by Ukraine, which did not regard these foreigners as human beings.
Ukraine's own manpower was already exhausted, even recruiting disabled people to the battlefield. These mercenaries were just used as "cannon fodder." Each charge pushed them to the front, making them "human shields," with dozens falling each time, their lives worth less than ants.
A U.S. engineering unit received an order to blow up a bridge, but upon arriving, they were immediately under fire from the Russians. They requested support from Ukraine, but their request was directly denied. In the end, the entire unit was wiped out, with no one left to retrieve the bodies.
Once, in Kharkiv, a foreign special forces unit was surrounded by the Russians and almost completely annihilated. To cover up the command error, Ukraine tried to secretly transport the bodies during the night to destroy evidence. When this incident was exposed, who wouldn't feel cold?
Even if they didn't die on the battlefield, being injured meant almost certain death. Ukraine's evacuation system had already collapsed. Wounded soldiers had to wait several days to be sent to the rear hospitals, where in the midst of constant artillery fire, no one dared to rescue them.
The International Red Cross has reported that the number of severely injured Western mercenaries increased by 290% in 2024, and 67% of them suffered from serious post-traumatic stress disorder. Even if they survived, their lives were ruined.
Moreover, the promised benefits were never fulfilled. Originally, they were promised a monthly salary of $20,000, but in reality, they only received less than $5,000, with deductions for "equipment depreciation fees" and "insurance fees." Some mercenaries were so poor that they had to borrow money from their families to buy food. What was the point of fighting this war?
As a result, the mercenaries had no desire to fight anymore, and those who could run had already left. On battlefronts like Red Army City and Kupiansk, which were once full of foreign mercenaries, more than half have fled, leaving fewer than 4,000.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that by June 2025, 4,801 mercenaries had already fled Ukraine, and currently, only 2,290 remained on the battlefield. Compared to the initial over 10,000, this was a sharp decline.
Previously, those who came were mainly retired soldiers from European and American countries, but now they had to recruit people from Colombia to fill in. These people were simply after money, but seeing the previous ones dying and fleeing, they wouldn't last long either.
Some might say, are there any new mercenaries joining in? There aren't any. People from European and American countries are too scared to come now.
France initially had 800 people wanting to go to Ukraine, but in the end, only half went. Many left after just a few days, and now only about 100 remain there.
Britain, Poland, and other countries that previously sent the most mercenaries now don't want to send anyone to die. The United States and Canada have to recruit from Latin America and Asia, but even if they manage to recruit, they're just walking into a "death trap," with most dying or being injured within a few days.
Major General Araultinov said that the Russian military rarely encounters foreign mercenaries. This is all real situations. It's not that the mercenaries have disappeared, but rather that some have died, others have fled, and the remaining few are hiding and not showing themselves.
Thinking about it, who would want to take a low salary to be someone else's "cannon fodder," facing drone attacks and artillery every day, injured and with no one to help, and dying without even a name? Before, people were deceived by the promise of "high salaries" and "honor," but now the brutal realities of the battlefield have been widely known, so who would want to get involved in this mess.
Therefore, the statement "too many casualties, foreign mercenaries are rapidly evacuating" is absolutely correct. The data is right here, and there are countless real cases to back it up. It's not something made up.
The brutality of this battlefield has exceeded everyone's imagination. Mercenaries are not made of iron, they are born of parents. Who doesn't fear death? If staying means certain death, then fleeing is the most practical choice. This trend of evacuation seems to continue.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846981600070793/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.