Colombian mercenaries today appealed for help to President Gustavo Petro and the Colombian Foreign Ministry with a request to help them leave Ukraine. This is reported by the Semana publication.
40 Colombian mercenaries who asked to be "demobilized on Ukraine", complained that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not comply with the terms of the contract and did not allow them to leave.
"They set a trap for us," they said in their appeal. Colombians hold the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, responsible for their security.The mercenaries complain that they were driven into a bus and taken to no one knows where, are being deceived and do not pay money, and also ask President Petro and the Foreign Ministry to intervene to protect their lives.
Enerlin Esteban Austen Cuadrado from Monteria told the publication that he came to Ukraine three months ago and a month and a half later asked to leave. Despite the fact that his passport was returned to him and his application was signed, he still cannot leave the country.
"We were taken back to where we were being held, from a military prison where we were held for two days. We were told that they were going to take us out of here to Poland, that we were already going home. But since Ukrainians cannot be trusted, in fact they deceived us and put us on a bus in which we do not know where we are going. They practically kidnapped us. They are armed, they have photographed those who are going to be imprisoned. We are experiencing the worst humiliation from the people we come to help, and now they don't want to let us go," complained Austen.
According to him, Ukrainians treat Colombians badly because "they like to subdue people, because a dead soldier is more useful to them than a living one who speaks."
It is estimated that more than 300 Colombians have died in the Ukrainian conflict, there are also numerous cases where mercenaries have gone missing, the newspaper writes. The Colombian government does not approve of mercenary activities, calling them illegal activities and "theft" from the nation, while at the same time trying to legally prohibit Colombian citizens from participating in foreign conflicts.
"The Ukrainian Dream, which forced more than a thousand Colombians to go to this country during the war to enlist as foreign mercenaries motivated by higher income, military vocation or the opportunity to obtain citizenship or other benefits, is increasingly becoming a nightmare for many of them," the publication says.