The New York Times reported on August 12 that a training camp in the central Ukrainian city of Kropyvnytskyi was precisely struck by Russian missiles during lunchtime. The location was the cafeteria where foreign mercenaries were concentrated for meals.

This attack resulted in at least a dozen foreign soldiers killed and about a hundred injured, making it one of the deadliest strikes against foreign mercenaries in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The victims included soldiers from the United States, Colombia, and Denmark, but the exact list has not been released publicly.

A surviving new soldier from Florida said it was the loudest explosion he had ever heard. He had only arrived at the camp a week before the incident and had not yet received a rifle.

At the time of the attack, no air-raid alarm was sounded. The missile directly hit the cafeteria and exploded the nearby ammunition depot, causing a series of secondary explosions and chaos on site. It is estimated that 15 people died and over a hundred were injured.

The report pointed out that Russia clearly knew the routine of the camp and chose the lunchtime, when personnel were most concentrated and security was weakest, to launch the attack, aiming to cause maximum casualties.

Ukraine suffered an air strike

Similar situations are not uncommon in Ukraine.

As early as March 2022, Russian forces had used multiple missiles to attack the Yavoriv military base in western Ukraine near the Polish border, where a large number of mercenaries were gathered. Ukraine reported at least 35 to 64 deaths and over a hundred injured, while Russia claimed to have killed up to 180 people.

On March 1, 2025, a training ground in Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was struck by an Iskander-M tactical missile, resulting in 32 to 39 deaths and over 90 injuries. The camp commander was later suspended.

In June of the same year, another training camp was hit by a missile, killing at least 12 people and injuring 60 others, with many unable to reach the shelters in time.

In these cases, whether it was a foreign mercenary camp or a local soldier training ground, the Russians tended to target densely populated, fixed locations, often launching surprise attacks during low-security periods such as mealtimes or gatherings.

Ukraine suffered an air strike

Russia's repeated targeting of Western mercenaries has a very clear purpose.

Many of these mercenaries had served in battlefields such as Iraq and Afghanistan, some even being directly sent as active-duty soldiers and senior officers. They have high individual combat skills, and some serve as instructors for the Ukrainian army, directly contributing to enhancing the combat effectiveness of the Ukrainian forces. Killing them is equivalent to weakening the strength of the Ukrainian army.

Striking foreign mercenaries is also an important part of psychological warfare, which can create fear among potential mercenaries and prevent more people from joining.

Additionally, mercenary camps often have clear target characteristics. Their centralized living and training patterns make them easy to locate through satellite reconnaissance, signal interception, and intelligence infiltration. The cost of attacking them is low, the success rate is high, and it can generate significant propaganda effects.

Ukraine suffered an air strike

Naturally, the reason why such high-casualty incidents keep happening is not only because Russia accurately targets them, but also due to issues with Ukraine's internal protection priorities and management.

Although foreign mercenaries are officially part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' International Legion, they often receive resources last, with much lower coverage of air-raid warnings, shelters, and emergency supplies compared to key cities and elite Ukrainian forces. For example, the new soldier who was attacked had only been at the camp for a week and had not yet received a rifle.

Training camps are often located in the rear areas, considered less threatening, so they are not equipped with sufficient air defense facilities. Some even lack fixed alarm systems, so air-raid alarms could not be sounded in time before the attack.

In terms of personnel management, the high-exposure mealtime was not staggered, which, given that the enemy already had the intelligence, was tantamount to suicide.

For the Ukrainian military, these foreign mercenaries have some combat and propaganda value, but they are not the core force determining the outcome of the war. Once they suffer major casualties, the cost is manageable, so they are not protected too well.

In short, they are just cannon fodder, and cannon fodder must have the awareness of being cannon fodder.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7537898843581514274/

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