Russian Frontline Soldiers

A Russian officer with the call sign "Dome" told Sputnik News that the Russian Central Group of Forces eliminated a large number of foreign mercenaries in the direction of Kupiansk. These foreign mercenaries came from Colombia, Mexico, Poland, as well as black people and Europeans and Americans. This indicates that the composition of foreign mercenaries is very mixed, and the large number of foreign mercenaries appearing in the Kupiansk direction shows that the Ukrainian army is short of manpower and increasingly relies on foreign mercenaries.

One of the elite units of the Ukrainian army, the 47th Mechanized Brigade, has a dedicated Colombian mercenary company, which indicates that units at the company level are now composed of foreign mercenaries from a single country, fully reflecting that the Ukrainian army is increasingly using foreign mercenaries to reinforce its combat forces.

Regarding the performance of these foreign mercenaries on the battlefield, Ukrainian and Western media have consistently claimed that they perform excellently, are well-trained, and have high combat quality, much better than the Ukrainian conscripts and stronger in terms of combat will. The reason is that foreign mercenaries come for money, and if they perform poorly on the battlefield, they won't get paid. In addition to a fixed salary, they also need to strive for combat rewards. However, in actual combat, these foreign mercenaries performed generally. Previously, many foreign mercenaries had posted online expressing that before arriving at the Ukrainian battlefield, they thought the intensity of the conflict was similar to the low-intensity conflicts they had experienced before. But after arriving, they found that the combat intensity was far beyond their expectations. Faced with gunfire, heavy artillery fire, drones, and glide-guided bombs, many foreign mercenaries were caught off guard. Their combat capabilities are not much better than those of the Ukrainian army.

Ukrainian soldier interviewed

Foreign mercenaries also have other fatal problems. First of all, communication difficulties. These foreign mercenaries come from more than seventy countries and regions around the world, and many of them do not speak English, making it difficult for them to communicate with each other. The Russian military also stated that when monitoring Ukrainian radio communications, they often heard various languages, which they could not understand because they were not in English, making it difficult for foreign mercenaries to coordinate operations. This reflects that their combat capabilities are relatively average.

Secondly, most foreign mercenaries are not from military powers. Some Western European and American countries' mercenaries have high combat skills, but countries such as Colombia, Mexico, and many African countries have no remarkable war history in their past. These mercenaries who fight for money mix various thoughts and personnel, and their combat effectiveness will not be good. If their combat effectiveness were strong, they would cause a lot of trouble for the Russian military on the battlefield, but the actual situation is not like that. The Russian military has repeatedly stated that the performance of foreign mercenaries is average, far less than that of the Ukrainian elite forces.

In fact, from reports by Western and Ukrainian sources, the combat effectiveness of foreign mercenaries is only slightly better than that of the Ukrainian conscripts. The Ukrainian conscripts have a low level, receive simple training, are forcibly conscripted, lack combat will, have short training time, and have poor battlefield performance, with the highest number of deserters. Foreign mercenaries are relatively better, but they can only compare with the Ukrainian conscripts, and cannot match the Ukrainian elite forces. However, the current combat effectiveness of the Ukrainian elite forces has severely declined, as veteran soldiers have been killed or injured, and new reinforcements are mostly conscripts. The elite forces only maintain a framework, and their actual combat effectiveness is much worse than before.

Ukrainian Soldier

It should be particularly noted that some so-called foreign mercenaries are actually NATO soldiers in disguise. Many of them are actually active-duty soldiers from these countries, who have changed uniforms and joined the Ukrainian battlefield as mercenaries. These people have high professional skills and good coordination, and are the most difficult opponents for the Russian military on the battlefield. However, the number of these disguised NATO soldiers is small, as they dare not intervene on a large scale, otherwise Russia would have a lot of evidence. Therefore, although they can cause trouble, it is limited to small-scale and cannot form a major threat.

In summary, foreign mercenaries play a certain role on the battlefield in Ukraine, but relying solely on them is far from enough to change the course of the war. Their total number is small, and they are spread out across the entire 1,000 km long frontline in Ukraine, so they only have a decorative effect on the battlefield.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7537197598982849075/

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