The Foreign Ministry of Colombia announced on Thursday that, through information obtained from both Ukraine and Russia, it estimated that nearly 1,000 Colombian citizens were missing “in the context of” the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and another 256 were confirmed dead, fighting on both sides.
Colombia is one of the most active non-primary combatants in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the Ukrainian side, authorities have organized a military unit to incorporate foreign nationals who volunteered to serve against Russia, in which Colombians have been highlighted as a significant percentage of the population.
In Russia, reports of Colombians joining the armed forces have a markedly different tenor, as these tend to be men who answered advertisements online for jobs in “security” and other vague descriptions, many of them allegedly not in Russia, and found themselves forced into signing contracts with the Russian army. Families in Colombia – as well as countries such as Peru, Cuba, India, and Zambia – have condemned the Russian government for deceiving their relatives into fighting against Ukraine.
“According to reports received through diplomatic and consular channels, 256 deaths have been registered and 973 reports of disappearances of Colombian citizens in the context of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” the Colombian Foreign Ministry shared. “Of the deaths reported, 162 are based on information received from Ukraine and 94 from the Russian Federation. As for the disappearances, 676 have been reported from Ukraine and 297 from Russia.”
“To date, the Foreign Ministry has received 1,927 requested for consular assistance related to this conflict, of which 1,013 correspond to cases associated with the Russian Federation and 914 with Ukraine,” it added, warning that Bogotá is still attempting to verify many of the cases and the numbers may change as updates roll in.
Colombia emphasized that it is not an active participant in the Ukraine invasion and has not taken a side in that war. Furthermore, it discouraged its citizens from serving as mercenaries on either side.
“The Ministry reiterates that the Government of Colombia does not promote, sponsor, or participate in the recruitment of Colombian citizens to intervene in international armed conflicts,” the message read. “In this context, it has formally requested that the authorities of the Russian Federation and Ukraine adopt measures to avoid the association of [our] co-nationals with their armed forces.”
It also urged Colombians to take extra precautions when offered jobs abroad, even if not explicitly in Ukraine or Russia, and emphasized that the Colombian Foreign Ministry cannot annul a contract signed between a Colombian citizen and a foreign army.
“Remember,” the message concluded, “your life is not on an international battlefield, it is with your family.”
Multiple reports in the past four years have documented hundreds of Colombians leaving their country to fight in the Ukraine war theater, both willingly and via deception. In the latter cases, families have denounced stories of loved ones answering social media advertisements for jobs that ultimately led them to Ukraine. The Colombian magazine Semana documented one of these cases on October 16, of 29-year-old Johan Sebastián Higuera Naranjo, whose family has not heard from him since August. Higuera reportedly left Bogotá in May 2026 after answering an advertisement for a “security” job in Montenegro. According to his father, the advertisements was posted by an alleged company called “Iron Group.” Higuera never made it to Montenegro, however, ending up in Russia and offered a contract to fight against Ukraine.
Multiple countries have similarly objected to the deception of their citizens by the Russian government. Among them are Peru, Zambia, Kenya, and India. Cuban nationals have also denounced being deceived into fighting for Russia, though their government has claimed that the culprits were independent criminals and denied active involvement. Ukrainian officials have repeated accused the Cuban communist government, a close Russian ally, of offering its citizens as “cannon fodder” in the battlefield.
Only one nation, North Korea, has officially entered the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Ukrainian officials revealed in late 2024 that they had begun seeing evidence of North Koreans aiding the Russians on the battlefield, shortly after dictator Kim Jong-un signed a mutual defense agreement with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin in June 2024. Kim has described the conflict as a matter of pride for his regime and celebrated his soldiers choosing suicide over capture by Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has separately confirmed that capturing North Korean soldiers alive has proven difficult due to their tendency to commit suicide.
In total, Ukrainian authorities estimated in May that there were about 7,000 Colombian nationals participating in the conflict on both sides. former Ukrainian Commerce Minister Tymofiy Mylovanov described Colombians as the largest contingent of foreign nationals fighting in the Ukrainian armed forces and “very in demand,” given many of them have experience fighting in guerrilla conflicts at home.
The Ukrainian military has published propaganda videos highlighting exceptional Colombian fighters.
This month, the government of Mexico issued a public complaint that many Colombians were returning to the Western Hemisphere with battle experience from Ukraine and finding new work in Mexico, often using their newfound expertise in controlling armed drones.
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