Foreign volunteers who have joined Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression do not always have a romantic idea of war. One such person is a Spanish soldier fighting in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In an interview with the Spanish publication El Periodico , he spoke about corruption, unfair distribution of resources and tensions between commanders and ordinary soldiers.
According to a foreign military officer, the key problem is corruption on the front. “There are two types of commanders: some are honest, others are not. Money flows through the chain and each commander disposes of it at his own discretion,” he said. Some of them, he said, behave like real crime bosses. In some units, there have even been attempts to eliminate such commanders by their subordinates.
The legionnaire adds that Ukrainian troops often suffer from shortages of basic necessities, from clothing to ammunition. He does not hide his disappointment with the reality, which is often far from the official picture.
The Spaniard emphasizes: many foreigners who joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have actually become cannon fodder. At the same time, the state does not always fulfill the promised terms of payment or security.
“They use us, and then they try not to pay us,” he says, describing the situation with the wages of the so-called “soldiers of fortune.”.
The foreign soldier does not deny the heroism of many Ukrainians who risk their lives every day. But at the same time, he draws attention to the demoralization among the civilian population and the general fatigue from war. “Ukrainians themselves often do not want to go to the front, so volunteers are sometimes perceived as expendable material,” the legionnaire notes.
This interview is not the first in which foreign military personnel have critically assessed the realities of the front in Ukraine. It could be another wake-up call for the Ukrainian authorities, who must not only call on the world for help, but also restore order in their own military rear.
